Other people's kids

I was at the mall by myself yesterday. At Lane Bryant there were two kids about the ages of mine, but reversed. The boy was probably 10 and the girl might have been 7 or 8, so a bit older than Owen. They were goofing around and I heard "he kicked me" and turned to see the boy with a big grin on his face and the girl gleefully retaliating. Then I heard a thump.

Yup, they knocked over a mannequin.

As the boy pushed the mannequin upright, I left the store with a big grin on my face, feeling in a better mood than I had all day (and for the record - their mom? Was totally cool. She didn't yell or over react like I would have, but instead calmly made sure the mannequin got returned to the upright position)

I love watching other people's kids do stuff like that. I also enjoy screaming kids in supermarkets and toddlers having meltdowns on the floor of Target. I love it when it's not my kid.

No, that's not as horrible as it sounds. It's just so nice to have confirmation that my kids are not the only ones failing to walk around with their hands neatly folded, eyes down, saying "yes ma'am" and "no sir" when spoken to (and only when spoken to!). I mean, I spend a lot of time with other people's kids, so I know this already. The kids we hang out with, even the ones mellower than mine, are certainly not Stepford children. But give me five minutes with older (ie - multiple decades since their own kids were little) and/or childfree family members and you'd get the idea that my kids breathe out hellfire or something.

I am this close to starting up some nice, snarky comments in return the next time someone says something to me. Which I'm guessing will be this week. Ah, holidays. The time when kids act up and adults get "stressed out" (because adults don't "act up" right? It's ok for adults to be nimrods during the holidays, but the kids should "know better". Or something. Whatever.)

Anyway, thanks to those anonymous kids in the mall for giving me an early Christmas present.