a bad roll that is...
i haven't had the best day.
yelled at my kids a lot (they haven't been on their best behavior either).
called out a lady on craiglist for falsely advertising a baby bouncer i was trying to buy from her.
grumbled and complained to ben about the little girl that lives at our apartment complex who is always bossing my kids around.
and last but not least, i said something pretty rude to this guy who lives in our complex. this man, and older guy, lives in the apartment right next to the spa at our pool, so he often comes out and complains about the kids being too loud or other such nonsense. and EVERY SINGLE TIME i have a conversation with him, i'm not exaggerating here, he gives me at LEAST one piece of unsolicited advice about how to parent my children. here's our conversation today:
man: "wow, those kids sure don't mind the cold water."
me: "nope." (i always try to keep it brief with him hoping he'll get the hint... no such luck)
man: "you know i've lived here 5 years and i have the only pool side apartment in the whole place."
me: i just kind of nod. uh huh. i'm thinking, here it comes....
man: "you know you should really make sure that those kids don't jump into the spa or they could crack their heads open..." (are you kidding me? do you think i'm an idiot and let my kids jump into the spa?)
me: "i can take care of my children on my own, thank you."
he kind of just looked at me stunned and then hobbled off after a minute. why whitney? why? why couldn't i just say, "thanks, i appreciate your concern for my kids." or "yes, they already know they aren't allowed to jump in the spa, but thanks for looking out for them" but no, i couldn't do it...
do you ever feel like you've become the worst version of yourself? i just feel so angry and confrontational today. i think i just need to go to bed and start over tomorrow. and thank you one and all for listening to my negative rant.
13 comments:
Meh. Maybe he'll leave you alone now.
He deserved it. ;)
Oh Whit, so sorry you had one of those days punctuated by one of those moments. At least it was a repeat offense by the pool guy, so you can feel at least a little justified in telling him how you really feel about his comments. Maybe he'll refrain in the future.
I find myself losing patience and being my worst self in the most unexpected moments. Oftentimes in public, with total strangers, over the most ridiculously unimportant things (long lines, dumb policies, honest mistakes), although in the moment they seem like a really big deal. For me, it's usually my own frustration with my kids or how I'm handling my kids that I take out on those unsuspecting strangers, and I always regret it later. Ugh, hate that feeling.
We all have those days...I am just too embarrased to tell anyone about it. You are a wonderful person, Mom and I am sure a wonderful neighbor!
sounds like it was a combination of your bad day and his COMPLETE lack of social awareness. apartment living isn't really convenient for anyone, so i figure if you can't hack it, it's not your noisy neighbor's fault. it's YOUR fault. if he doesn't like the noisy kids, he shouldn't have the only pool-side apartment in the entire complex. no???
just my two cents. stemming from my bad mood the entire year i was an apartment manager. :)
and i was meaning "YOUR" as in whoever is complaining, not you. :)
haha... i knew what you meant maren. :)
I struggle with this, too. And if I were 9 months pregnant, I'd struggle even more with it:)
Well,dont know about you, but this late in this pregnancy I am just not up for faking nice or putting up with peoples crap. no extra efforts are coming from this girl. I cant not stand when other people try to parent my children. There is this chick here that I have the unfortunately am around a lot who takes it upon herself to tell my kids what they cant do before they even attempt to do something wrong. I want to tell her that I watch my kids and she should go parent her own kids that are always running around unsupervised and being obnoxious.
Wow, maybe I should go to bed and start over tomorrow!
I am the most non-confrontational person. I never say anything to anyone. But in my dreams I have a vicious side and I tell people off all the time.
Anyway, sometimes it's just hard to be nice to certain people. But that is what we are here to try to be better at.
you just said what all of us want to say. Way to go! If it was the first time he said something to you I would say it wasn't justifiable. But since this is the millionth, go ahead. This is definitely one of my pet peeves. I really dislike when people do this to me too.
Those days are horrible Whit. At our house we usually all end up crying in our rooms on those days. But look on the bright side- at least it's not your every day. A woman with 3 boys and a baby on the way is definately allowed an off day!! You're awesome!
Whit, I love your honesty. We all have days/moments like those when our less than perfect selves come out. At least it was just a slip up and not the person that you are. I have a story about one of those very imperfect moments that I'm quite embarrassed by. I'll have to tell you in person because it's too painful to type out!
Erg! I hate the "worst version of myself" days! I get those more than I'd like, I have to say. You have to remind yourself that if that's the worst you can get, you're not doing so bad! :)
Post a Comment