The kids had today off from school for President's Day, and once I gave them a bath and trimmed all their gnarly toenails (motherhood is glamorous), made them clean up the toyroom, and got the kitchen clean, we got in the car and headed out to run some errands. We drove through Walgreen's, went to Hobby Lobby and got some stuff for Girl Scouts, and then I took them to Chick Fil A for lunch.
Chick Fil A has stopped giving money to hate groups, so it's ok.
We had finished eating and the kids were in the play area, and I was sitting talking to a friend that we had bumped into, when the little girl at the table behind us (she must have been 3 or 4) dropped something glass (no idea what it was - everything there is plastic) and it broke.
The girl was there with her big sister, her mom, and her grandpa. Mom chose that moment to take the big girl to the bathroom. So Grandpa was left to deal with the little one and the mess.
In true Chick Fil A style, the young man who worked there came over and started sweeping it up right away. But the grandpa, he was PISSED. He yelled, "Way to go, Ace," in this really loud, sarcastic voice. Then he yelled, "You just sit there. JUST SIT THERE!" and then he mimed punching the little girl and said, "POW!" So, naturally, she was scared and she tried to hide under the table - where all the broken glass was. Of course this made Grandpa even more angry, so he's yelling at her to come out, which makes her want to hide more... And it was just awkward and BAD.
So, being me, after a minute of this I got up and said, "I think she's trying to hide because she's scared..." Then I got physically between him and the little girl and said, "Hey, Sis, come up here before you get hurt. It's ok, it was just an accident. Whatever broke was just stuff, and stuff can be replaced. The important thing is that you're not hurt, and you need to stay up here on the seat so that you don't get hurt, ok?" She had been sobbing and screaming, "I wanna go home!" for a while, so I said, "I'm ready to go home too. It's my little boy's nap time. Do you still take a nap? Is it naptime for you too?" Of course, at this point I was talking to the grandpa, trying to calm him down and make him see the situation from her point of view. I got her calm, he backed off, mom came back, and they left.
After they left, all the other adults around us thanked me for getting involved.
One of these days I'm probably going to get punched, but it wasn't today.
1 comment:
I agree--The wrong grandpa might punch you. On the other hand, I think you were an angel in that moment, and that little girl will never forget it. I think that moments like that provide sanity in a crazy life and gives hope to kids in that situation; you planted a seed of hope and a little thought, mabye, in her head that says, "Maybe I'm not so bad after all." Good one.
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