Over at PBN we are having a blog blast as a preview for the upcoming review on the book entitled Body, Soul, and Baby.

Soon after my first born son, pnut, was born my mother and I decided to do some much needed post-partum shopping at a local outlet store. We are both going about our business shopping in the housewares department when an older woman stops me to admire our new bundle of joy. I expected this to occur when I left the house so I didn’t mind it so much. Usually people would stop me and just look at him for a couple seconds then let me get back to my business. This lady on the other hand wanted to stand there and ask twenty million questions. In the middle of the conversation, older lady stops me mid sentence to ask “Why don’t you get that booger out of his eye”? At the time the pnut had a cold and with babies the cold makes mucous come out of their tear ducts. I proceed to wipe the booger from my childs eye to please said old lady when she rudely stops me and declares “Honey, that isn’t how you do it. You are doing it wrong.” I quickly turn to the woman and in a post-partum hormonal rage state “I know how to take care of my child! How about you let me do my job” and walk off. It felt good to tell of the woman that thinks that just because I am young that I don’t know how to take care of my own kid.

The fun continues…
As many of you know I just gave birth to my second child, the bean, in late may. A couple weeks prior to giving birth the fam and I were doing some last minute grocery shopping for the weeks following the beans delivery. At 38 weeks I will admit that I was as big as a house. We enter the grocery store and begin to shop. Then out of the blue a what appeared to be a 6 yr old little girl spots me and screams at the top of her lungs so that everyone in the store and God’s green earth could hear…

“MOM THAT LADY IS HUGE!!!!”

Oh but the fun didn’t stop there. This family followed me practically all over the store and what did loud mouth say THE ENTIRE TIME…
“THAT LADY IS PREGNANT!” “SHE IS ABOUT TO POP!!!” “MAN, HER BELLY BIIIIIIG!!!”
and on and on. This girl would. not. shut. up. Her mother was doing nothing but tuning her loud mouth out. Finally, I lost them somewhere between cleaning products and the chip aisle. I thought I was safe. I finished shopping in quiet and prayed that the family had checked out and left already. I proceed to stand in line at the checkout counter. Up walks lovely loud mouth and family to get in the checkout line next to me. Lovely loud mouth stands eye level to my stomach and starts blurting out the obvious again….
“WHAT IS IN THAT BELLY!!!” “SHE IS GOING TO POP” “WHY IS SHE SO BIG”
To which point I look down and make eye contact with little ms. rudeness. I give her the most disgusted look imaginable. She runs to her mother. I give the “you need to teach your child some manners” look to the rest of the family and walked away to another checkout. I didn’t have the courage to say anything to the mother but “the look” alone was enough that I didn’t really need to. I’m sure they got the point.

One last story or shall I say letter before I go.

Open Letter to the 2 tweens at the grocery store last Saturday afternoon….

I see you as we both exit our vehicles and proceed to walk towards the store. I see you when you turn around, snicker, then tell your friend to do the same. I realize that I am wearing out of style light pink gauchos but do you have to tell the world too. I realize that I am indeed at a grocery store, the social hangout for tweens, wearing the only thing that is comfortable, stain free, and not bought from the maternity section at your local department store. Do you realize that although I am 60 lbs overweight, have a deflated baby sack for a stomach, and wearing out of style gauchos that I just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy just a couple weeks prior. Before you snicker to your friend and give disgusted looks, just know that 10 years down the road you will be in my same situation getting dirty looks from tween such as yourself. Let me know how it feels and how karma was such a b*tch.

To the mother of the tween and tween’s friend…
Teach these kids some manners. You’ve obviously been in my situation so why would you allow your kid to be so rude. I just gave birth, you see, and right now I don’t need your child to point out my flaws as I am trying to buy food to put on my families table. I hope you learn a lesson from this that it is not alright for your children to snicker, gossip, and laugh at people for the way the look or how they dress.

To the whole tween clan that continued to snicker as we both walked back to our cars. I turned around and gave “the look” in hopes that they got the point. But in case they didn’t this open letter is address to them as a wake up call for life’s harsh lessons.

Sincerely,
the mother in out of style light pink gauchos

Don’t you wish you could have just handed them this?