Have you ever been out in public, shopping, at a restaurant, or in the neighborhood and people stop to talk to you and say questionable things to you?
I am a mother of four children. And every single time I leave my house, it is guaranteed that I will come back with a story. People look at me like I have 100 kids! Their heads follow me as my crew passes them in a long line. When shopping with my husband for a sizable haul, we have two carts, we look like a three ring circus coming through!!!
I have received looks. I have overheard comments. I have heard conversations. And I have experienced some interactions I wish never took place.
My children are young but they are getting of an age where certain words do resinate with them. My oldest is able to understand what they are saying but doesn’t understand where the comment is coming from.
QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ASKED. CONVERSTATIONS HAVE BEEN HAD! Certain phrases, topics, words, and meanings have been questioned by my two oldest which unfortunately have been the start to conversations I was not prepared for at that age in the middle of Target!!!!!
I know the average household now a days is 2.5 children. I know I exceed the norm. I know most people have no malice when they say these things, but I hope this blog will get people to think about their interactions. I hope people share this article and its message: Think about what you say before you say it.
I teach my children the idiom that words are like toothpaste. Once you say them, you can’t take them back. Just like you can’t get the toothpaste back in the tube.
Please do not say these things infront of my children:
You’ve got your hands full!
This insinuates that 4 children are too much to handle.
Are you crazy?
A word children understand, in which, I do not need them repeating back to me. There is nothing “wrong” with me because I have a big family.
You know what makes all these babies, right?
Uh…….. I will not have the birds and the bees talk in the toy aisle of Wal-Mart.
God help you/God bless you!
Insinuating that taking care of a lot of kids needs divine intervention.
How do you do it?
Like all moms, we just do. We find a way.
GET A VASECTOMY!
This topic of conversation is off limits. Not only do I not want to have the “talk”, I do not want to discuss permanent birth control medical procedures!
And my personal favorite (NOT)
Are these all yours?!
Whoa. This question is horrible on so many levels. In these times, we should know by now how insensitive this question is. I don’t have to list the reasons about fertility issues, adoption, and so many more topics this statement offends.
In my nine years of parenting, I have been humbled. I now think more about what I say to people in general, not just about kids. I hope I am raising sensitive children to be aware of peoples’ feelings.
Please leave me a comment down below of remarks you have received from total strangers.
Remember to spread joy. “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” Marianne Williamson
Mini Van Mama 