I'm a mother, hear me roar.

Want to get a mom fired up? Blame her kids for something, especially when it's not their fault!

Yep, that's exactly what happened today. To make a long story long, I took my boys to the doc for R's two-year check up. (I know, he's two already - eek!) I told P if he behaved himself then we can go play in the new play area at the mall before heading home for their nap. I packed a lunch for us already, so I figured a little letting-loose and wearing them out somewhere would put them down for naptime easier anyway, especially after R got his two shots. (He took them like a champ, too! No crying; just a wince and a cool band-aid later, he was all gravy again.)

So we get to the mall's indoor playground. There are about ten kids there, which is what I love about this place during the weekdays - it's not crowded and you can see your kids wherever they are because it's a flat playground, vs. one that's really high and difficult to see where your kids are if they're on the other side.

About 20 minutes later, a couple of moms with their babies come up to park their strollers in designated stroller area, got their babies out, and took off the babies' shoes, as is the rule at these indoor play areas. I think nothing of these people of course.

That is, until her newly-walking baby gets accidentally knocked over by my little R shortly after she comes into the playground. Mind you, R doesn't have a mean bone in his body, unless you mess with him first.

The woman, bleach-blonde, prego, petite, dressed to impress, immediately turns to R and says "Be nice! That was so mean!" She picks up her baby, who barely even whined and didn't even cry.

I said, "Sorry!" and went and got R away from the baby.

She merely gave me a dirty look and continued to assess her baby, who was fine, completely unfathomed by the event (if you even wanna call it an event), and even went about finding a place to play. While the mom's face was still frowning and disapproving and eyes in my direction.

That's when my motherly instincts kicked in.

"Excuuuuse me, it was an ACCIDENT. And I said SORRY. Your child is fine!" I exclaimed directly to her, other mothers nearby watching and listening, while my face was in the same expression as hers, my hand up, fingers spread, in a "stop it already" position.

And you know what she did? She STILL gave me that DIRTY look and just said "OK" with an attitude! ARGHHH!! I got up to give her a piece of my mind, but seeing as I was seriously about to not let this go, she walked away with her mom friend and their kids. I probably wouldn't get crunk but I could have if she didn't haul butt to the other end of the playground.

Okay, let me explain something. And I'm sure it goes to say for any social situation. If you're going to be in a place with a lot of kids where it was meant for them to play, then of course you're going to get some accidents. If you want to avoid that, and you're so overprotective and un-open-minded about outside interference, DO NOT COME TO THESE PLACES. KEEP YOUR CHILD IN A BUBBLE.

I've been here multiple times, and never once, NOT ONCE, have I ever witnessed or encountered parents who were this way with their children. If a kid got pushed, the parental thing to do was shake it off, know that their child was fine, and that it was an accident, and these kids can barely keep themselves on their feet. And if your kids start fighting or shoving each other, we just pull them away from each other, put them in another spot, and everyone was happy. No need to even say a word or give dirty looks. They're KIDS.

So that was it. I wasn't feeling it anymore. I sure as heck didn't want my kids around her. I packed them up to go despite their protests. As I did so, I exclaimed, making sure that woman could hear me, "We're leaving because there are moms here that don't realize that accidents happen and her daughter is fine and she shouldn't be blaming people for things they didn't mean to do because they're KIDS."

A fellow mom packed up her daughter too. This mom was with her mom (grandma) and witnessed the entire thing. They were rather classy people and friendly. And I'm not even saying this because of what I'm about to tell you. You can just tell how people are when you observe how they are with their children. She was very attentive, laughing at all her daughter's antics, making note of her characteristics with grandma, etc. The mean mom, on the other hand, continued to gossip with her buddy, talking about the latest sales at whatever expensive shops, and nitpicked her daughter's social ways (such as not getting near a kid, like at all, unless it was her friend's kid). Her and her mom friend literally stayed in clear distance away from other people.

Anyway, my boys and this fellow mom's daughter in fact accidentally pushed over each other as well earlier than this incident, but this mom did the mature thing, laughs it off, says they're fine, even though I apologized for my boys.

Seeing as I was upset, she smiled sympathetically to me and pushes her daughter in her stroller over to my boys. The grandma then proceeds to say, "Oh, these boys are the sweetest things ever. They are not mean. They are too cute and sweet!"

The mom says, "Don't mind people like that. She shouldn't be here then!"

I smiled and said, "Thank you. Yeah. Your daughter is so cute, too."

P then goes up to her daughter and says, "Hi, friend! High five!"

The roughly 18-month-old high-fived him and they both laughed. So freakin cute!

Then the grandma says something that took me off guard. "Oh, those women were bitches - forget them! Have a good day!"

I laughed. "Thank you. You, too!"

I did feel slightly better knowing strangers sided with me. But sometimes mom strangers aren't really strangers all that much. You get this connection - unless they were moms who weren't connected to their children.

Maybe I was being immature by not containing myself? Naw. Those people need to hear it. In fact, now that I think about it - I was being too nice! Blah.

That's my rant for the day. Please leave comments of negative thoughts about people like that rude, uninformed woman. Thank you.