That Mom....

Today I was "that mom". We had to stop in at a local grocery store today to bring up a couple of things. As usual, my kids were the ones running through the store and slide on their bottoms down the aisles. Needless to say, I got more than a couple looks from other women in the store. With my purchases completed, I am finally ready to get my kids out of there and head to the safety of my van. We get to the sliding glass doors, the automatic kind, and disaster struck! For some reason, Emma decided to run her hand along the stationary door while her brother walked in front of the automatic part. It came back, Emma didn't notice and next thing I know her arm is caught between the two doors and she is moving back with them!!!! With the assitance of a man who was behind me, we held the door to get it to stop and I gently pulled her arm out from in between the doors! She was balling (with good reason) and suddenly we were the center of attention. As I was attending to Emma, there was a flurry of activity behind me as people were searching for a store employee to assess the situation. All in all, Emma was fine. By the time the store manager showed up, she had stopped crying and was laughing at her brother. We left the store with cookies and a bag of ice and I was told that a report would be written up in case she needed medical attention.

The thing that got to me was, the women (most of whom would fall into the with grown children category) who stopped to make sure that Emma was okay and give me the evil eye. I got the unwed teenage mother who isn't responsible for her kids look and one women even went so far as to tell the kids to be careful this summer because of course I wouldn't be paying attention to their well being!! I guess the fact that most of them had seem my kids running and sliding through the store earlier didn't leave them with a very good impression of my ability as a mom.

I know that I probably read more into their looks than was really there, but I definitely felt like I was "that mom". I guess it was a good reminder to me to be more compassionate the next time I am out and run into a mom who is having a "that mom" moment!!!