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caramel & cocoa

Caramel & Cocoa - cooking, parenting, fashion, diy, eating, living, a blog

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

When your kids are told off by strangers !?!


I'll admit it. There were times, pre-children, when I just didn't understand tantruming toddlers in public. More true - I wondered why the parent's had let things get to that point. I was naive. I was young. Frankly, I was an IDIOT.  I am very sorry for being judgmental back then. I now understand that kids are evil. Ok - just joking but they definitely don't listen, especially when you would like them to, like this afternoon when Api refused to get out of the car and get into the house because she preferred to go to a birthday party, even though no one we know had a birthday today.

That being said, there are times when children will surprise you. We just got back from a two week trip to Ireland. It was great but we arrived home at 2 AM to an empty fridge so we opted to go to a local breakfast cafe for some morning grub. The place was not too busy. Api who is very chatty & smiley ordered her own breakfast and kept making a bit of conversation with H & I, and some other friendly diners. Both girls were very good during the meal, but H & the baby slipped out to get the newspaper and as they walked out of the door, Api called out, "see you later daddy."

That was all it took for someone (I'll call her Mrs. Crabtree), two tables down to turn to her and say "My god, we are just trying to have a quiet cup of coffee. Misbehaving kids must stay at home." and she huffed - she literally huffed at my child. I was raging - not because Api was told off, but because Api had actually behaved impeccably well the entire meal. In a matter of seconds I thought to myself. Api is 2. Api behaved very well. I need to defend her. I'd like to tell this woman where to go. I can't tell her where to go because that would be setting a bad example for Api. But I can't leave Api hanging either. I was very hot but knew I needed to keep cool.

I turned to Api whose big blue eyes looked confused and I told her that she had been a very good girl during breakfast and that I was very proud of her. Mrs. Crabtree then huffed at me. As I finished my coffee I tried to calm down and was thinking of smart comebacks to throw at Mrs. Crabtree. Clearing the table, the waitress, who must have heard the exchange told Api that she was a good girl and gave her a free cookie. Another couple stopped to tell her that she was a "lovely" girl as they walked out. ;)




1 comment:

  1. What a miserable, grumpy woman! I'm so annoyed on your behalf!

    ReplyDelete