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I went out to mow the lawn today and my next door neighbor came over to say hi. I was trying to get the kids to weed around the trees and they were being stinkers about it (in spite of the fact that they're getting paid to do it!) Anyway, my neighbor, who has one seven month old daughter, said to me: "If I had three kids like you, they would always do their work."
I smiled and nodded politely and thought to myself, I'm not a perfect mom, I'm not even a very good mom, but I have learned two very important things about being a mom:
Number One: NEVER criticize another person's parenting abilities (not even silently, in my own head) and
Number Two: NEVER say that my kid is behaving, has behaved or ever will behave better than anybody else's kid.
It's not that I'm worried about offending anyone. Not at all. What always gets me is karma. The few times that I've forgotten these two Mommy gems of wisdom I've paid for it dearly. Don't get me wrong, just like all parents I believe that my kids are wonderful and perfect, but over the years I've come to realize that a wonderful and perfect child will do what children do and a mother who assumes that her little darlings will always be obedient and will never act up at the most inconvenient (or embarrassing) moment possible is going to get kicked in the butt by karma. Hard. So, I'm not hurt or offended by what my neighbor said. Far from it. Mostly I'm just very worried for her because karma never forgets.
No such thing as "Canon"
2 years ago
3 comments:
I LOVE THAT STORY, AND IT'S SOOOOOO TRUE! My brother in law was VERY quick to pass judgment, and he has a baby now... Can't wait to watch karma in action. No, I won't say anything, as what you say is SO true, and I need to remember also that I shouldn't enjoy it when karma has something to say to these folks. :D
I was thinking back on my life and how many times I've "stuck" my foot in my mouth and lived to regret it sometimes immediately and others later. But life does have a tendency to jump in the way -- when we know we know everything about a particular subject - especially children. (Like my kids won't do that or don't do that -- yea right!) I'm old now and my children often remind me that we also have different takes on things which isn't bad - it's just there. So I agree with you and your kindness was especially rewarding. Thank you for your thoughts.
Love ya,
HAHA! Yeah, sadly your neighbor will probably eat her words. I always laugh when people like that say stuff to me, because in my head I'm thinking, "you have no idea."
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