I am not a violent person by any means but I nearly bitch slapped a woman. It happened like this...
Last week, I had to take Trent to the doctor because his entire body was covered in this crazy rash! Turns out, it was Roseola which was a reaction to the 104 fever he had been having from his teething. It just so happens that the doctor's office is directly across the street from the hospital. I had been bugging Mark for the last few weeks to meet me at the hospital so that we could pre-register for the impending birth but we haven't gotten around to getting down to the end of Carson City. Since I was right there, I decided to do it myself.
I put Trent in the stroller and prayed that the registration process would go quickly. For those moms out there, you know how kids can get fussy when the stroller stops moving. As long as the wheels are turning, Trent is good to go! As soon as he stops feeling the breeze on his face, he gets restless. Anyhow, the woman at the registration desk quickly handed me the papers to fill out and as she did so, she made a comment about how she will make it quick because she knows how kids are. I smiled, grateful that she understood, and quickly began to fill in the blank spaces.
The whole thing took less than 10 minutes and Trent was a quiet little man up until the time when the woman handed me my insurance card. As she did so, he began to kick his legs and let out a tiny screech. I grabbed my belongings and whisked him away as quickly as I could, thankful he behaved. I could see the entrance to the hospital in my line of vision just as Trent let out a loud scream. He began to push against the restraints so I picked up my speed, all the while telling him we would be at the car in a second and that he needed to be quiet in hospitals.
The gap between us and the door was lessening by the second. Trent let out a third screech when we were about three feet from the door. I paused and reached over to press the handicap button so that the door would open for me when a hospital employee walked up to me. Mind you, there are no rooms on the level we were on and no one in sight other than us, the lady at registration and this employee who appeared out of thin air. She waved at Trent and leaned down to his level. I smiled politely, all the while wondering what she was doing. She steadied herself on the leg rest of the stroller and leaned in close to him. I was about to ask her if I could help her when she calmly put her finger up to her mouth, leaned forward so that she was a mere few inches from Trent's face (he HATES strangers getting in his face), and she shooshed him...loudly. Well, what did this make Trent do...loudly? Scream his bloody head off. She stood up and smiled at me. The first thing that came to my mind was that I was going to bitch slap this woman if she got in my child's face like that one more time. I was stunned speechless.
I continued to stare at this woman, semi-conscious of Trent's meltdown happening right below me when she smiled at me sweetly and walked away!
I booked it through the doors as quickly as I could because now I really needed to calm him down. If she thought that he was loud before when he screeched three times, she would have been disgusted at how loud he screamed once she got in his face. If he was not in the throws of a complete and total freak out (tears pouring down his cheeks...beet red face), I would have turned my pregnant behind around and said something to that woman like mind your own freaking business.
I know that I have probably made Trent sound like a horrible child in this blog because I usually only post the instances where he has done something bad or had some major tantrum, but I swear, he really is pretty good. Lately, we have been able to go out to dinner in relative peace with him and this is a huge step for us! Sure, the terrible two's are starting to roll around but I am trying my best to nip that crap right now before it gets worse and I really feel as if progress has been made lately. When I tell him 'no,' the accompanying tantrums haven't been quite as long because he is finally learning that I mean business. It wasn't as if he was screaming his head off the entire time I was at the preregistration desk. Once he did began to get restless, I was already on my way out the door. The woman saw me leaving, was it really necessary that she do what she did?!
Nothing will piss you off more than when someone messes with your child...I never understood the whole "mama bear" concept until I had Trent and let me tell you, it's true! I felt like I wanted to reach across and smack that woman for not only getting into Trent's face but then shooshing him so rudely and loudly. Thank goodness I didn't! I've never hit someone before, nor do I plan on it, but that woman is lucky!
For future reference, I know that Trent is cute and all (I say that because I am his mother and think that he is adorable-hehe), but here's a tip...most kids, Trent included, do not like strangers in their faces! It happens all the time! We will be in a store, Trent will be minding his own business in the shopping cart, and the poor guy will turn around to some random (and usually wrinkly--the elderly love to get close to him) face staring at him. If I turned around and saw someone standing a few inches from my mug, I would be startled too! Kids don't like it, trust me! Strangers can say hi; I don't even mind when someone touches Trent's arm or something, but please don't get so close to my child that you freak him out and cause a huge meltdown! If this tip will stop someone from doing it to some poor, unsuspecting little kid, I have done my job for the day!
And here's another tip....parent's don't need complete and utter strangers telling their kid to be quiet. I was doing that on my own. I am not one of those parents who lets their kid run around unattended at stores or restaurants or who ignores their child's tantrum while out in public...others may do that but that is not me so I really don't need a stranger telling me how to do my job which I work really hard at. To top it off, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if a kid is indeed in the middle of a tantrum, the parent is already embarrassed enough and it doesn't make matters better when a total stranger throws their two cents in. Parents, in general, are doing their best to raise well mannered, respectable little people, I promise.
Now, I am off to get my little man from his nap. Here's to praying that I don't get close to bitch-slapping anyone else in the near future ;)
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