Parenting Parents
29 Jul
Dear Preoccupied Mother at Outback Steakhouse,
First of all, congratulations on your new bundle of joy! I couldn’t help but notice when my family walked in to the restaurant to celebrate my father’s recent retirement that you have a little girl about Bee’s age and a newborn. Being 85 months pregnant, you immediately got my sympathy. But you looked like you were having a good time with Grandma so you definitely had your bases covered.
So when your daughter came over to our table to share her books with Bee, we all thought it was just pretty cute. Obviously, we made the mistake of acknowledging her existence (something you are pretty good at avoiding) and letting Bee play with her for approximately 30 seconds. Stupidly, when our food came to the table, we kind of thought that would be a clue to you to reel in your daughter and let us enjoy our night out.
But instead, we got the pleasure of babysitting your daughter at our table while we attempted to eat dinner between “No, sorry, she can’t play right now” and “Okay, we’re going to eat our dinner now…”. Little did we realize that these subtleties would be lost on a four year old.
Every time we thought we were in the clear, your sweet daughter, through no fault of her own (this is where I‘m STRONGLY hinting that it‘s YOUR fault, Preoccupied Mom), popped back up asking yet again if Bee could play with her, which is kind of inappropriate to begin with figuring that your daughter was ALL OVER THE PLACE. In the aisles, at our table, sitting in the middle of the floor getting in the way of the wait staff.
In fact, when we finally left the restaurant, your obliviousness impressed even me when your daughter just started running around the restaurant and played in the front lounge area (you know, by the front door, where she could have easily been snatched or even worse, run out in the busy street) unattended and pretty much ignored by every person in your family.
So thank you, Annoying and Negligent Outback Mother, because you reminded me once again that, despite all my flaws, there are so many more ways that I could suck as a parent.
Oh, and PS: fellow diners are NOT free babysitters. You will be receiving my bill in the mail. Kthnxbei.
Song title: Parenting Parents by Advent
Ugh!!! My hubby went into Wal-mart the other day to grab a new video game. In the entertainment section, sitting in front of all the TV’s watching Toy Story 2 were about 30 unsupervised children. He made a face at a Wal-mart employee, who told him that this is a normal thing. People just freaking leave their kids to watch TV while they do their shopping!! WTF people!!!
Annoying and also? Sad! I hate meeting kids at the playground or stores or restaurants and having it be obvious that they are NOT getting the attention they need or deserve from their parents.