Sunday Shout Out: The Mom Who Did The Right Thing

Follow

This shout out goes to the mom who has a son in my five year olds swim class.  Lemme splain’ why.

The five year old takes swim class like many other kids his age. After he was done with class and we were heading home, he was talking to another boy from his class, nothing all too special.

DAD was lagging behind walking with the baby, that’s when everything changed.  The five year old ran up to DAD with tears in his eyes and proclaimed, “That boy told me fu*k you!  He used a bad word DAD and hurt my feelings!”

I understand that kids repeat words that they hear from parents, friends, older kids and don’t always get what they are saying, however this kid seemed to completely understand how to use the “F” word and when to use it.

That being said, I decided to let it go and get the kids into the car.  However, the five year old couldn’t let it go, he is “the rule follower” in the family and was not only upset that the other boy swore at him, but upset with me that I didn’t do anything.

I knew if I didn’t do something, I would hear about it all night and he was right, the kid did break the rules and I did blow it off.  With that I went back into the swim school and found the little boy with his mom.  I introduced myself and calmly explained what had happened.

At this point I wasn’t sure how things would play out.  The mom looked at me, then looked down at her son and asked him “did you do this?’  To his credit the little boy fessed up to the crime.  With that the mom apologized to me, made the son apologize to me and then went on a parent type of rant on her son for what he did.  Pretty much the same thing I would do if my kid had been the potty mouth.

So why does this random mom get a shout out?  Because she did the right thing.  Many parents would have become defensive, told me to butt off, mind my own business or deny that their kid could ever use that language.  Defensive behavior when your kid is super wrong is pretty common in parents. Not this mom, she owned up to the “foul” and handled it like a mature, responsible adult.  Awesome.

So here’s to you random mom.  I don’t know your name, but today I DAD salutes you. I know you were embarrassed by what happened, but you stood up like an adult and acted like….an adult.  Random mom, you are awesome mom and a shining example for other moms and dads to follow.

If  you are one of the seven people who read this blog, this Shout Out is for you!!! Take the rest of the day off, have a glass of wine, take a nap and bask in your parenting greatness.