My public apology to every parent I have silently judged

I have just endured the most humbling experience of my parenting life.  Let me put this in context.  Before I had a child, I knew it all.  I knew exactly how I would raise my little angel so that he would never, ever throw fits.  No, my little one would be well behaved, polite, sweet and intelligent.  When I saw kids kicking up a fit in Walmart, screaming their lungs out with a parent standing beside them, struggling to stay in control of their own, adult emotions, I was very judgmental.  Obviously, that parent had not done their job at home if their child was acting this way in public!

Well, I just received my payback.

My son was tormenting the dog.  Both of them were bored, and I decided to run an errand to the post office which is not that far away.  I was leaving the dog at home so that the poor pooch could rest unmolested, and I was taking the toddler in his sled to the post office.  Jr normally loves sled rides!  This was a good plan.

I didn’t get far, when Jr decided he wanted to ride in his sled sideways.  I’d put him back in the sled straight, and he’d flop out again.  At first I was annoyed, but then I thought, who cares?  If he wants to flop out of his sled sideways, what does it matter?  It’s slightly harder to pull the sled, but that’s ok.  So I let it go.

Well, when that didn’t get my attention, Jr started whining and fussing. I stopped to see if he wanted to walk.  No, he not only didn’t want to walk, he downright refused to walk.  Ok, so I put him back in the sled.

We arrived at the post office, I picked up my package, and we started back home.  Jr now decided that he didn’t want to ride, he didn’t want to walk, and the only thing that would suffice was being carried in arms.  Keep in mind, this child is a solid 35 lbs.  He’s officially too heavy to be packed around.  I’m not physically strong enough! So Jr cried piteously in the sled behind me, throwing his legs out of the sled to act like an anchor.  I was now in the suburban equivalent of “the middle of nowhere” and couldn’t have stopped to give him his way if I’d wanted to.  I needed to get us home before I could do much of anything.  So I plunged on.  Anyone watching me must have thought I was heartless and terrible!

When we finally reached the road, I took Jr out of the sled so he could walk across the street.  He couldn’t ride across the street, because the street was clean and the sled wouldn’t slide.  He seemed willing enough to walk until we got into the middle of the street and decided to throw himself to the ground, which left me with a package and a sled in one hand and a shrieking toddler being dragged along in the other.  When I got to the other side of the street, I put him down where he laid face down on the sidewalk wailing.  I picked him up.

Well, we had to cross one more time.

“Jr, you have to walk,” I told him.

Obviously, he didn’t believe me.  He threw himself back down to the ground again, and I had to drag him across the street once more.  When I put him down on the other side, he lay there on his back, wailing out the injustice of it all.  I picked him up and decided to try and carry him the rest of the way.

Well, he was good and worked up, so he hollered in my arms, too, all the way to our door, up the stairs, and to the door of our apartment.  People must have thought I was abusing this poor child!  I opened the door, brought him inside and let him holler for a few more minutes while I took off all of our jackets and put them away.  He was already in full tantrum, and I didn’t want him to be confused that he might be getting his way with a fit.   So after I had put away our coats, I picked him to give him a hug and calm him down.

I suppose he tired himself out with all of his shrieking and flopping, because he promptly fell asleep on my chest.  I put him into bed and sat down, rather stunned.

I can see that our precious little angels have a way of making us look like BEASTS in public!  Anyone watching who didn’t know my son, would think that I must have dragged him for five miles and then refused to pity the tiny, tired little soul.  The reality of the situation was that he hadn’t actually walked for more than 20 steps the entire way!

Holy cow!  I humbly apologize to every parent I have ever silently judged!