Yesterday I ran across a news article in the Huffington post titled "Apologies to the Parents I Judged Four Years Ago" I couldn't have agreed more with this article if I had written it myself.
It came at a good time, especially since the majority of yesterday my daughter spent her time on the floor of the upstairs guest bathroom because that's the only place in the house that a) has no toys for her to play with and b) is just uncomfortable enough to make her mad.
So, yesterday evening we received an invitation to dine with a friend and his daughter (mom was coaching a track meet) at a local restaurant with a wonderful outdoor playground. It's one of Evelyn's favorite restaurants because of the playground. It of course had been raining that evening so the playground was soaking wet. After Evelyn and her playmate finished their dinner (okay they each took about 4 bites) we let them out to play.
And as I watch these two girls proceed to bathe in the rain water, (I'm talking washing their faces, dipping their hair in it and sliding down the slide into what is now a giant splash pad) i feel the all to familiar feeling of someone judging me. So I look behind me and see a sweet young couple in matching outfits with a little baby girl all decked out in her car carrier sleeping like the perfect angel she will always be (uh huh) I feel the look... I know the look... I know what they're thinking : "how can that mom possibly let her daughter out there to play in that acid-rain. She's going to end up with hookworms or dengue fever or some kind of catastrophic ailment. I bet she even feeds her kid blue food coloring!"
Personally, I was just happy she kept her clothes on. I mean lets get real here. Thankfully Mark was there and he was giving Tanner a bottle b/c otherwise I would have had to prop the bottle up with a blanket (another stellar parenting move) to go out there and ask that Evelyn not bathe in the water anymore.
And as I watch the sweet couple gather up angel baby and put her in her $400 BoB stroller and mosey on out of the restaurant looking at me with all the contempt of a first time parent of a 2 month old who can't throw a fit or smash ice cream into your face or bathe in the acid water filled playground I smile and just pray they have a second kid!
So I'll leave you with this quote today:
Matthew 7:1-2 Judge not that you be not judged. For the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Have a great weekend!!
MRM
here's the link to the article
