The other day while Michelle was at work Tenley and I went to Target to pick up a few things. The first problem I did not really notice was that Tenley had a runny nose and was wiping it all over her arm, hands and shirt. Then there was the crying fit she had about being in the car seat again. By the time we got to Target she was a mess. Still, being a dad, I didn’t really notice.
Upon entering Target the first thing that Tenley did was start asking for popcorn and an Icee. Michelle had told me recently that for a dollar you get a small bag of popcorn and a small drink. She had been getting that for Tenley while they shopped. I thought that was a good idea and went over to the food area. Unfortunately there was quite a long line and Tenley, not being the patient type, started crying again. This produced more tears and runny nose which once again was being wiped everywhere but the Kleenex I had.
After we got our popcorn and drink we started our shopping trip. Up and down the aisles Tenley was spilling her drink and wiping her runny nose all over her shirt. Once again Daddy was not really paying that much attention. She was quiet and there was popcorn…what else did I need to know? Somewhere along the way she managed to get something black all over her shirt as well.
Pretty soon the popcorn lost its appeal, the drink was gone and Tenley was walking on her own through Target. Soon enough the crying began again because she didn’t get the Thomas the Train Backpack that cost $25 and was the same size as she is. As the wailing began in earnest, my eyes were opened and all of a sudden I had a white trash baby in Target. She was beyond dirty, snotty, food on her face and in her hair which was half out of its pony tails and standing on end. She had an overall look of neglect about her, like I had shopped at the nearest Goodwill store for her second hand clothes and never bothered to bathe her.
Instantly I became the parent that I used to look at and sneer “Why don’t they take better care of that child. I would never go out in public like that!” I grabbed her, ran to the nearest cashier and paid for the few items I had and raced out of there before anyone had the chance to judge me a bad parent.
Yikes, things are different when the white trash child is your own!
3 comments:
Too funny! I've been there and done that! I'm sure there's more of it in my future now that I've got two little noses to wipe!
Donna
(still in Guangzhou)
LOL Cady had a melt down the other day in the store and I had to really balance between quickly doing the atm machine tally, and tending to her wanting out of the cart. I decided to give her a bunch of atm envelopes that lasted all of 20 seconds before she cried in a fit again, but now with envelopes all over the floor. I looked around and hoped that no-one was noticing the wailing child in the cart..yeah right.
Hah! Classic.
Yes, Jeff, I'm there with you, having had to eat a lot of crow too since becoming a mother at a late age. All those years of judging people with wayward or dirty kids. Hee hee hee. That's called Karma. :)
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