Fight or Flight

Pardon me if my mama instincts flare up during the writing of this post... :)

Yesterday, one of my brood became threatened and I was ready to take on the world! Mad mad!! My sister and I were happily chatting at Chick-Fil-A, watching our boys in the play area through the glass (minus T-baby, who was at home napping). M so enjoyed romping and climbing with his cousins. The playground is set as a faux rain forest with a tree to climb and slides within the plastic canopy. Very cool. M always has a great time playing there and never wants to leave...

So, my story begins with an initial altercation where M came down the slide, crying and saying that someone had hit him. I consoled his tears and he was soon up and running, playing as if nothing had happened.

Only a few minutes later, my sister and I watched as M ascended the tree (as he had done 100 times already) when out of the blue one of the children started to kick him!! My sister and I saw it at the same time--M bent over in the tree while the little child sent kick after kick into his ribs! I was appalled... We started shouting at the child through the glass, watching as the kid then went after him to bite him in the back!!!!! Okay, now my anger was palpable. How DARE this little 4-year-old threaten my sweet (and apparently innocent) M. We ran in and quickly rescued my completely unraveled, tearful boy.

The culprit--an adorable, pink-clad GIRL. What a toughie she was. In the midst of it all, her mother appeared, scolding her daughter for "hitting" (she obviously hadn't witnessed the event!) and made her give an apology. It was all I could do to prevent myself from opening up to both daughter and mother... This little girl had threatened my poor baby. And to top it off, the mother never looked me in the eye and offered a very half-hearted "sorry" over her shoulder as they walked out of the play area.

What???? I wish I could beam myself to that moment and help the woman understand what her daughter had done!! The whole scene makes me seriously reconsider many of the thoughts I've had about sending my child to school! I know that's taking things a little far, BUT having one's child in school is subjecting them to the result of other people's poor parenting. Yuck!! Definitely a thought to consider down the road...

So there's a little taste of my sympathetic nervous system to excite your day!!
I now understand why mothers, in the thick of things, can do amazing feats.

Who wants to arm wrestle? I'm ready!
Oh I know, settle down, B-mama, and have some grace! God's been after me about that since...! Pesky Lord.:)

Thanks for listening and stick up for the innocent today, okay? God Bless!