Just when you think your woes with diapers and spit-ups have come to an end, a different set of challenges set in. I recently walked into a friend's house with my daughter for a play date with her child and another kid. Just as we were exchanging pleasantries, my friend exclaimed to my daughter enthusiastically, "So, we are going to have a great time, yeah?" ; My daughter goes " Where's the hooker, where's the hooker?" . I am zapped, my friend is puzzled and we were trying to make sense of what she was telling. I ask her gently what she wants, my daughter replies " I want to hang my coat , where's the hooker?". She is used to coat hooks that all the children use in her day care to hang their coats. They're at a height appropriate for toddlers so they can hang on and take off their coats without any assistance. For a split second she made me wonder what kind of party I had brought her to!
Last week on our way home in the evening, I had to quickly stop for fuel. I drove to a gas station in a strip mall with some small shops, a taqueria and such. It was not particularly an unsafe part of town. After getting gas, at the insistence of my child we went into the attached convenience store for some candy. I was standing in line to pay for the candy, when I heard DD say, " Ma, I see a pirate, he's a pirate". With an uneasy knot in my stomach, I turned to see a dishevelled homeless man - a dirty green jacket, wiry overgrown hair and beard, a big bulging sack, a black patch on one eye and a scowl on his face. He was just a simple, harmless man, but due to my own insecurities, even without my child to invite trouble, I'd have quickly exited the place. But now with this siren from DD, I was very tense. I tried to ignore her, shush her and then strongly attempted to divert her attention to the candy. I had no idea how he might react. Luckily for us, he just smiled and told another store employee by the coffee machine, 'she thinks I- ma pirate!'. For no apparent reason my heart was beating fast and my grip on DD's hand tightened. I paid for the candy and rushed out from there before my daughter could have attempted to schmooze any further!
Last week on our way home in the evening, I had to quickly stop for fuel. I drove to a gas station in a strip mall with some small shops, a taqueria and such. It was not particularly an unsafe part of town. After getting gas, at the insistence of my child we went into the attached convenience store for some candy. I was standing in line to pay for the candy, when I heard DD say, " Ma, I see a pirate, he's a pirate". With an uneasy knot in my stomach, I turned to see a dishevelled homeless man - a dirty green jacket, wiry overgrown hair and beard, a big bulging sack, a black patch on one eye and a scowl on his face. He was just a simple, harmless man, but due to my own insecurities, even without my child to invite trouble, I'd have quickly exited the place. But now with this siren from DD, I was very tense. I tried to ignore her, shush her and then strongly attempted to divert her attention to the candy. I had no idea how he might react. Luckily for us, he just smiled and told another store employee by the coffee machine, 'she thinks I- ma pirate!'. For no apparent reason my heart was beating fast and my grip on DD's hand tightened. I paid for the candy and rushed out from there before my daughter could have attempted to schmooze any further!
