Mommy & Me, it sounds so innocent, fun, and “responsible”. It’s great for your child’s development and doctors recommend it. Like many other moms I take Cami to mommy & me. It’s great, she gets to interact with other kids her age she dances, sings, colors, and paints. It’s great, right? NOT RIGHT! Mommy and me is cool and all, but you know what kind of sucks about mommy and me? The mommy’s, well some. Interacting with other adults feels like a luxury sometimes, I get it, but when your kid is in the corner throwing a tantrum because other kids are playing in his/her self-proclaimed area and you pretend like you don’t notice it, yea, NOT COOL. I’ve experienced this a few times and I honestly can’t tell you how not cool it is. There was an instance where Cami walked to the Lego Wall and began to play near a little boy, this little boy turned to her, took her Lego away, and screamed at her. A few parents and I looked around to see where his mom was because we assumed she was going to come over and calm the toddler down. I spotted her, we made eye contact, and she continued her conversation with one of the dads there. My poor child ran over to me crying. She’s used to people asking if she’s a princess to which she smiles and nods. I am no one to judge any mommy out there because were all doing the best that we can to keep our little humans alive and happy. I do not step out of my house with the intention of passing judgment or shame on anyone, that is not who I am or who I want to be. I do admit that I was upset for all the wrong reasons at the time of the incident, but as I reflect, I realize that we are all guilty of not being present in the moment with our children. I’m guilty. I mean, I’ve found myself looking at my phone during family movie nights, yea not proud, but also not perfect. We tend to let life pass us by and sometimes neglect the moments that make it all worth it. The prideful smiles after placing a Lego on the Lego wall or witnessing them make their first friend. I’ve learned to slow down. Sometimes we forget how fulfilling it is to take a second to simply exist. I tend to do this a lot I stop in the middle of what I am doing, I look around, I look at who I am with, and at my surroundings. There have been moments in my life when nothing was certain, moments when my reality was subject to change. Because of those moments of uncertainty, I learned to slow down and take moments to simply exist. When passing judgment on someone you should ask yourself why it bothers you so much. Dissect your feelings and figure out the WHY. I did and it took me back to the moments that changed who I was.
