Lesson Learned

Today the 5 kids and I walked to the park (about 1/2 a mile away) and played for a while.

Madelyn & Easton (one of the boys I watch) were having a blast with the small curly slide. Another little boy came over and started picking on Madelyn & Easton. The first couple of times, I just brushed it off as "kids being kids". But I soon became very annoyed.

The mom of this little boy made me so angry. Her son was hitting, throwing rocks, and just being a stinker. She kept telling him to "stop", "be nice", "quit being so mean", "if you do that 1 more time we're going home". Finally after about 10 warnings of taking him home, she finally put him in his stroller to go home. He threw a fit. Not a little fit, but an all out temper tantrum.... but only for a few seconds. She quickly took him out of the stroller and told him he could have 1 more chance. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I was irate. Annoyed. Completely irritated. He immediately ran over to Madelyn and hit her, causing her to cry. Not because it hurt, but probably b/c she had enough of this annoying kid. Madelyn's mama had already had enough, too. I was right there, so I grabbed the 2 kids gave the mom a terribly dirty look and I rudely told the mom "I think we'll go play somewhere else".

I know that being a mom is hard. There are days when I can't wait until my kids' bedtime for some sanity. Discipline is especially hard... especially being consistant. This mom was teaching her child that it was 1- ok to be mean 2- not necessary to obey and 3- that her word wasn't truth. I'll admit, the boy was a brat... but it's not his fault.

I am still annoyed, just thinking about it. But today was a good reminder to me that even on the hard days and even on the days I'm really tired, consistancy is key. When I say I'm going to do something, I need to follow through. My kids may not like it now, but hopefully they'll thank me... in about 20 years.