A Mommy Story

I hate rainy summer days. Here in Columbus there are far more outdoor places for kids than indoor places to play. And so, needing to get Cordelia out of the house to run out some energy, we went to the mall.

It was packed, and the play area looked like a science lesson: atoms (kids) racing around at high speeds, occasionally colliding into each other. Pure chaos. My friend Lisa and I turned our two toddlers loose into the fray.

Going to the mall is always a good excuse to people-watch, and sadly I always find people that I shake my head at. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some of them are just having bad days, and I’ve had my share of bad days when people probably thought I was an awful parent. But there are things I still shake my head at. Today’s examples:

– Moms so wrapped up chatting with their friends about going out drinking the other night that they don’t keep an eye on their kids, as they wander out of the play area, hit other kids, or dig through diaper bags and strollers that don’t belong to them.

– Children who throw food at other kids as they pass by their stroller in a store. And the mom who simply says, “Honey, don’t do that,” as she continues shopping and doesn’t look at the child.

– Kids fishing money out of the mall fountain, pocketing anything larger than a penny and then throwing the pennies back, all while the mom watched. I’m not making this up. The money in that fountain goes to a local charity, and these kids clearly believed they were deserving of charity money. The mom thought it was hilarious. One kid was even counting his loot to see if he had enough to get the toy he wanted at KB Toys (the family already had bags of stuff they bought, so they clearly weren’t too poor to shop).

My kid may throw tantrums in the middle of Bath & Body Works, scream her way through the bookstore, and knock things off the racks as we walk by, but at least she doesn’t act like those kids. And I’m a little scared what these kids will turn into, with parents like that.