The kids and I went to Chick-Fil-A after the Y today. Mama had run 3 miles, plus did yoga, and Sammy had a 'bad day' according to him, so I figured we deserved it. Sammy's 'bad day' occurred because he tripped over a ball in the gym with his friends, and some of them laughed. Poor guy . . . he's so sensitive, lately!
Anyway, we go to Chick-Fil-A and eat inside. While we are there, I happen to notice a younger mom with perfectly blown out straight blonde shoulder length hair, and French Tip acrylic nails that had been recently done. She was sitting with three other moms, and had a baby boy with her. I'm assuming the baby had recently turned 1, because they were celebrating his birthday with a cake, and a large mylar balloon that said "Happy First Birthday!"
After we'd finished eating, I took Sammy and Sophia into the play area. This was not without trepidation . . . as you know, this was the location of Sammy's unfortunate stitches episode. However, I was hoping to get past the day with no trips to the emergency room. We'd been in there for several minutes, when the other two moms in there began packing up their bags to leave. I had noticed when we first walked in that there was a baby boy walking around. I say baby, but honestly, he was walking, so he couldn't have been that young. He was definitely younger than Sophia, though.
The little boy's pants were a bit too long for him, and he wasn't wearing any shoes, so with every step he took, his pants sat lower and lower on him, until you could see part of his hip on the side where the strap on his diaper was. The anal-retentive mom in me wanted to fix it, but I was hesitating because I thought surely one of those two moms was about to pick him up and walk out the door. But they didn't. Instead, they just turned to go out the door with their other kids.
Part of me started to panic, and I turned to one of them and asked, "Whose baby is that?" She looked at me blankly and said, "I have no idea." The other mom turned around and said, "This lady stuck him in the door earlier. It was the weirdest thing - she opened the door, set him down, and then said, 'Happy Birthday, Baby!' before she turned and walked out."
What? Are you kidding me? The one year old is in here unattended? And not only unattended, but I look out the glass walls of the play area and see his mom, facing away from us, eating the kid's birthday cake with her mom friends and all of their kids . . . but not with the birthday boy! Seriously? Your child is one year old, you're here to celebrate his birthday, and you dumped him in the play area at Chick-Fil-A by himself! What were you thinking?
Readers, I am shocked and appalled by this behavior. Sophia is 18 months old, and I would never put her in the play area by herself. Not even with her big brother (age 4) to watch over her - because we all know that wouldn't happen. Don't get me wrong - if several of my friends were already in the play area, and I had to run to the bathroom, I would ask them if it was ok, and Sophia would be with other adults she knows and trusts, but I would never just put her in the play area and walk off. The poor kid was in there all by himself - none of the kids of his mom's friends were even in there with him!
I'd been in there by myself now with my two children, the abandoned baby, and several other children for about five minutes, and I was still wanting to fix the little boy's pants. He was wandering around aimlessly, and at one point he even started to cry. I still wasn't sure what to do, but right as I was about to pick him up, in comes his mom. She picks him up, says "Are you all done playing now?" and walks out the door. I have to admit, I was relieved - apparently she had enough of an eye on him to realize that he needed her!
I quickly collected my children, and we walked out the door and began our slow load into the truck. Two car seats later, I looked up to see 'Mom of the Year' walking away from the play area - alone! I thought to myself, no way did she stick the baby in there again . . . I had parked right in front of the windows to the play area, so I hurried forward and snuck a peek into the window. Sure enough, the baby is in there alone again! And worse, there are no adults in there . . . I cannot believe it - I am appalled. Happy Birthday, Baby indeed!
Tell me, would you do this to your one year old? On their birthday, no less? What would you do if a friend was doing this?
What would *I* do????? call CPS!
ReplyDeleteAs a mother of a 1 year old, I find this appalling. There's no telling what happens in her home if she acts this way in public! I can't even go to the bathroom in my own home without panicking a little about my little one being alone in the baby-proofed living room. This just makes me sick to my stomach!
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