Not such a great mommy day...

When my husband and I decided to take on parenthood, I knew there was no manual for raising kids.  I also knew that I would learn as I went along, making mistakes and trying to do better next time around.  And I also knew this would be the hardest job of my life.  With that said, nobody told me how the momma bear would react when her cub was attacked by another momma bear.

I am not that naive mom who believes her son is perfect...that he doesn't push, shove, or scream at other kiddos.  I feel that my vocabulary consists of no, please don't, stop it, and you are going to timeout. I was informed today this is because my son is out of control.  I work very diligently to make sure when not in his parents' presence that he is not (what I call him in his ornery state), "a little turd". That is why I constantly say those phrases, not because he is out of control.

By now you are wondering why I am so distraught. Keith attends gymnastics once a week with 6-9 other toddlers.  I am careful to note they are toddlers because I am learning that these little human are completely unaware of their surroundings thus knocking into each other from time to time unintentionally.  About six weeks ago, Keith inadvertently jumped into the foam block pit kicking a little girl in the head.  The girl didn't even scream until her mother made an issue of it.  This same mother has proceeded to comment on and off about how my son behaves (never mind her daughter wouldn't keep her hands out of his hair just a week ago). So today, during "bubble time" Keith was off to stomp a bubble (because I won't let him squeeze them, in effort to keep him from accidentally shoving someone) when this little girl also was off and guess what, they collided. Her mom runs frantically to her saying that my child is out of control and she is just going to have to avoid him or she will be hurt severely at some point.  At the same time, I was getting on him for not paying attention when I hear this nonsense.  First, Keith collided with her as much as her with him and second, I was making him sit out because he wasn't paying attention to where he was going.  There was no need for such comments and when I responded with "it's an accident and nobody got hurt", it set her off.  This is where Momma Bear Savage roared because no one but me gets to say things like that about my son.  Again, I do not believe he is perfect, far from it to be honest, but he has never intentionally hurt anything or anyone.  So why do I feel like a bad mom, well, everyone was staring as I stood chest out, hands on hips, defending my son and now I am "that" mom.  I am sure my child would be embarrassed if he was older but at the end of all of it, I didn't say anything that I would not have said to the Lord's face.  I love my son, I recognize he will make mistakes and I will work to help him correct them BUT I will work even harder to control the angry momma bear inside of me in hopes to not embarrass him further some day.  And to the other mom, I pray for you.  I feel that I am able to be a good mom most days because I know I am not perfect and he is not either.  God gives these special gifts to us to raise as he would have us.  As soon as we can recognize that we all are doing the best we can, we can all get along better.  Oh, and NEVER yell at my son again.