So I did it.
No, not sky diving- or Extasy despite what my previous post was about.
I said the “stupid thing” to a mom with a child with problems. I was “that person”.
Oh how vexing to be on this side of the glass! and humbling! I was picking Summit up from mothers day out and went to the bathroom before I got him. In the bathroom I saw a child laying on the couch, all covered up with blankets and with a red, dottie rash all over his exposed skin. He looked ill. I went back to the room and Sum had a dirty diaper. I decided to clean it myself because I felt bad handing him back to the workers to change his diaper while I stood there watching. I mentioned that I didn’t want to bother the “sick child with chicken pox or whatever” where the changing table was and the worker I was talking to suddenly got irate with me. “That is my SON and I would NEVER bring a sick child up here!” she told me, “He has excema and he can’t help the look of his skin!” (What are the freakin’ odds that I’d say that to the child’s MOTHER?) I just stuttered out something forgettable and stupid. She was angry at me. I was the proverbial horses arse.
The following week she apologized (as did I) and we had a great conversation about having a child with problems. She can’t take her son to the store without well meaning people asking what her child “got into” that caused his rash. So, I ponder, what is appropriate and what is inappropriate to say to a stranger, even in the genuine attempt at being friendly? Should we have more boundaries in our speech? I don’t want to become some big city without southern hospitality and warmth, but it seems that there aren’t enough restrictions on what we allow ourselves to say, good intentions or not. Or, as mothers’ with children with problems, should we learn to better deal with comments and not be so defensive about innocent comments? That’s it, I’m just thinking while I talk, I have no real conclusions here. Let me hear your thoughts please.