Are you ever "that" parent?

[alexsmommy]

I see moms with very demure, quiet children (usually girls) looking at us like they are animals. Trust me, I do not accept bad behavior, but it's a fine line and there are moms who I think would think their behavior is bad, depending on the nature of their children. I cannot change their personalities and it's futile to try.

We went bowling with friends yesterday and in the lane next to us were two moms with two daughters each. The girls seemed more like little adults to me. Each took a turn, they'd turn and give a sweet little smile if they'd done well, and then sit back down. They were SO QUIET! Our boys, OTOH, would hoot and holler and high-five each other after each ball, pretend they were rock stars and play air guitar with lots of theatrics, and just TALK loudly. I can only say "Shhhhh!" so many times. They're not misbehaving, they're just being kids. At least I think so.

You know, when people ask if I am "going for the girl" I realize part of why I would be fine with three boys is boy energy just doesn't bother me that much. As long as they are not being bad, but just high energy, I see nothing wrong with it. I try to roll with the punches where I can so that they are more likely to listen when I need them to calm down. Our choice of a restaurant for dinner last night was a noisy, familly friendly restaurant because I am more relaxed if I don't have to worry about shouting, spills, etc. I know that no one will have fun if we go somewhere where they are expected to sit and be little gentlemen for 90 minutes while hungry at the end of the day.
I admit, sometimes by 7pm I could go for a little less energy, but for the most part, I enjoy the energy level my boys bring to our home.

[Laurel]

I am! And when I get "that" look, I am known to shrug and say "whose kids are these?".

[DietCokeLover]

Anyone who claims to have never bee "that" mom is either (a) lying, (b) has a full time nanny and never been out with children , or ( c) totally delusional.

[mamicka]

In a word - Yes.

[KBecks]

Oh, if letting my kids run a little makes me "that" parent, then I am "that" parent nearly all the time. Ha!

And I am blissfully oblivious to looks. Seriously, I don't notice, I generally don't care if people are looking at me. I would usually think they are delighted by my kids. Unless they say something, then I assume all is well and most people do not say anything, and are not rude about it.

[BeccaB.]

I'm probably "that parent" to someone on a very regular basis. And honestly, I'm OK with that. My kids aren't perfect. I do as best I can but there is always going to be someone for whom that is not enough. Either they don't have kids, they had kids so long ago that they have forgotten what it is like or they are the smug judgmental type. But hey, if my parenting makes them feel better about themselves then so be it.

[Corie]

I had about 6 grandmas give me "the Look" last week when my 4-year-old
son accidentally ran our grocery cart into the vanilla wafer display and knocked the ENTIRE thing over.

I was just relieved it wasn't a pickle display.

[niccig]

Yes, especially when I carried a kicking and screaming DS out of the McDonald's play area.

I nearly gave "the look" to the mother in our demo Yamaha music class. The teacher told her son to not touch the demo key board she was showing the kids about 5 times and he still kept touching it, putting his feet on it. The mother ignored him for a good part of the time, and after the mother told him not to, and he still did it, she rolled her eyes and said nothing else for the rest of the class. If we were in Target, I wouldn't have thought anything, but in a class where a teacher is repeatedly telling your child something and they are not doing it, then I think that is a problem.

[C99]

That mom as in giving someone a nasty look, or that mom as in letting my kids do something they maybe shouldn't?

If the former, I am rarely that mom. I think it sometimes when I am at Target at like 9 p.m. on a Sunday night and my kids are home, in bed, asleep, while their dad plays a computer game and I am free to go to Target by myself, and there's a kid who should really be in bed having a meltdown in the next aisle over. But I don't give the look because I don't know what their circumstances are that cause them to be in Target at 9 p.m. on a Sunday with their 2 kids and I just thank my lucjy stars that I am not compelled to that and go along my way.

If the latter, I am usually that mom! Earlier this week, I was in the post office for 1/2 an hour mailing packages and the line got really long while I was filling out customs forms. It was later in the afternoon and the kids were bored and they were running around in circles and whooping. I just let them go for awhile. Because I cannot *control* them and they weren't really bothering or hurting anyone, and because the post office *is* boring (and not open at night, so I can't do that errand after they are in bed, as my son asked me after we left). As I am finally at the counter and nearly finished with my transaction, a postal worker came out from the back and told me that I had to tell the kids to stop running. I looked at her and said, "I have. And I am doing the best I can. And they are doing the best they can. If you'd like to see if you can get them to stop running, go right ahead."

[KpbS]

Yes, definitely! DS1 is very energetic, very very friendly, and not afraid to express his emotions DS2 is even more expressive--esp. when upset, he doesn't hold back, he just screams. Recently we were at a very nice, fun children's museum--totally interactive. DS2 was just distraught that he couldn't pour the bleach water from the water tables over his head and in his mouth (ICK) and would only be pacified/distracted from his mission for a few minutes at a time. I got that look from so many moms--you know, people turning around in horror after hearing a child shrieking thinking he had just broken his arm or something. No, he's just mad about the water tables......really mad.