Someone Quiet Her Down

You know what? I feel like I've been lied to by all parents in the past. Parents say, "Oh that's okay that that kid is crying. I don't even hear it anymore! You'll understand when you're a parent, Elizabeth"

Lie.

Today, Paul and I went to Wal-Mart just to peruse the aisles of cheap goods, which I love. The Wal-Mart that is next to our house in Lincoln City is not the nicest, but the one here by my in-laws house is really nice! It's the "Super" Wal-Mart, so you know it's ritzy. Usually it's a peaceful  walk around the entire store for me, but not today. Not at all.

We first encountered the grandmother and grandchild around the DVD section of the store. The granddaughter was screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. I thought to myself, "Elizabeth, you're a parent now. Your child cries. This is no big deal."

We then ran into the screaming spawn of Satan (the granddaughter) again in the kid's clothes aisles. And again in the grocery section. This was getting ridiculous. The child was crying nonstop. Not just regular, whiny cry. This was the hardcore, all-out cry...the one that dries out the child's throat so they end up choking and coughing type of cry. Not cute. If that wasn't enough, when we were checking out in one of the 47 lines at Wal-Mart, where does the grandmother decide she wants to check out with her devilish granddaughter? Right next to us. Thank you, passive grandmother who did nothing to quiet your hyena. You have ruined my trip to Wal-Mart.

Two things:

1. If my child ever decides that she wants to act up like this in public and throw a massive fit (which I know she will), I will not subject everyone else in that store to her crying/whining/complaining/being irritating. I will just take homegirl and put her in the car and head home to deal with her.

2. No matter how hard I tried today, I could not tune out the crying child. It was a ghastly noise from this girl; I even stooped down to her level because when the little girl caught my eye, I felt the need to give her a look of disgust at her behavior. You know, "the look" that all mothers have. The look that says, "you know what, you're acting like a moron." I know I'm not  the girl's parent, but was the grandmother doing anything? No.

I feel that if I look close enough and pay attention, people (even strangers) can teach me life lessons. For example, this grandmother taught me that trying to pretend that nothing is wrong when the kid with you is screaming bloody murder is not the answer. She should have done what other mothers do: give the girl a reason to cry and then head home.