Are You Kidding Me!?
Dear McDonald’s:
Thank you for disappointing my son on his birthday.
A former customer,
Lauren
Four is a very “big deal” birthday. It is the first year that (most) kids can grasp the concept of time (days on the calendar, waiting, etc..). So when you tell a three year old that they are having a birthday party in a month – you better deliver a birthday party in a month! Because every single day is counted. “At my party…” starts AT LEAST one sentence a day. Needless to say, Braden was really looking forward to his birthday party.
I booked the birthday party a month in advance. The store manager told me that invitations, happy meals, cake, sundaes, table decorations, party hats, balloons and goody bags would be included. The morning of the party, I called to confirm with the manager on duty. “Yep, we have you down,” he assured me. We arrived at McDonald’s at 2:15 p.m., 15 minutes before party time. I told the staff we had arrived and they looked at me like I was crazy. As in, “and you’re telling me this because???” We headed back to the play area to find tables reserved for the party, but no decorations. Guests started arriving and I got sidetracked greeting people.
About twenty minutes in to the party, it occurred to me that there were still no decorations, no balloons, no party hats — nothing. You wouldn’t even know it was a birthday party. So, I went to the counter to ask the manager where the “party stuff” was. He asked, “well, what are you missing?” UMMM! EVERYTHING! I told him there was nothing out. He said they’d be out with stuff in five minutes. An hour into the party I went back up to the counter. I asked the girl who was “hosting” our party where the stuff was. “They are getting it,” she said. “From where? Another McDonalds!?” I responded, obviously peeved. “From the party store.”
FROM THE PARTY STORE!?!??
breathe…
The manager came back up to the counter to tell me “five minutes.” Oh dear Lord, please give me the patience I need not to climb over the counter and shove this guy’s headset down his throat. “Look, I booked this party a month ago. I called this morning to confirm. We’re talking about a four year old’s birthday party here. Why are you sending someone to the store now? I’m paying you for a birthday party. Why didn’t we get a birthday party?”
He responded with, “yes, well, five minutes.”
Okay. Five minutes. What can I do about it? Make a big stink and let it ruin the afternoon? Demand I get I get a discount? A discount isn’t going to get Braden his party decorations.
I tried to find comfort in the fact that Braden was having a good time with his friends and that he didn’t have any specific expectations. That having the decorations and hats would have been nice, but it’s not like he was missing them.
Later that night, at home with my mom and sister, we were talking about the fiasco. I shared with them my comforting thought. And then my mom shared with me a conversation she overheard.
Ex-Husband: “Are you have fun at your birthday party?”
Braden: “Yeah, but there’s no balloons.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 7 so far )Parenting 101 – Week 2: Appropriate Conversations to Have in the Presence of Children
I risk offending someone every time I post. I’m really putting it to the test with this one.
Twice recently, I witnessed a disturbing scene. These poor children…
The First:
Brady and I were in the elevator at Ikea. We shared the ride with two “women”, dressed in sweatpants – might I add, and the grade-school-aged daughter of one of them.
Lucky for me, B loves shopping (for now) and Ikea is his favorite non-toy store. We go in there and it’s, “look at this, Mom!” and “MOM! We neeeeeed one of these!” and “Mom, c’mon. Why are you taking so long? Let’s go over here!” We browse around, pick up a few things, and have normal mom-three-year-old conversations. But not these people.
In the whopping two-story trip, I learned the main gist of the mother’s life. “No way. We. Are. Moving. We are packing up our things and leaving. AGAIN! I don’t have to put up with his s#!t. He can’t run my life. If he wants to be with me, he’s going to have to prove it. And he can come to Florida to do it. I’ve taken him back one too many times.” Then she looks at her daughter: “Right ,baby? It’s just you and me. We don’t need no man. We don’t need him. Right, baby?” All the while, the friend is cheering on the mom and trash talking this “man”.
And this is what they talk about IN PUBLIC!!
This poor girl came into this world thinking she was going to get a nurturer and a role model. And instead she got this trashy mom with no maternal instinct, no common sense, and no self respect. This poor girl doesn’t stand a chance.
The Second:
Leaving Old Navy [observation 1: I’m always at a store | observation 2: parenting blunders are so often observed at stores], there stood — again — two “women” and a young girl. The mom was on her cell phone. “Oh NO! That f@*#er is getting what he deserved. He’s lucky all he got was a restraining order! Oh, you better know it. If he so much as looks at me again – his a$$ is going to jail. And then who will be f@*#ed!?”
Seriously? This couldn’t wait until your daughter was in bed? Or you couldn’t have used the universal parental code language of spelling mixed with bad hints, confusing clues and lots of ums and uhs?
Once again, an innocent young girl – not so likely to be innocent for long. Sad story.
Today’s lesson, parents, is: zip it on the adult conversation (if you can even call it that) in front of your children. Let them be children – at least for a little while. If you need this lesson, your example alone, without exposing them to the “adult” conversation, is likely to screw your kids up eventually.
Click here to read Parenting 101 – Syllabus and Week 1: Appropriate Television for Preschoolers
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Parenting 101 – Syllabus and Week 1: Appropriate Television for Preschoolers
Welcome class! My name is Lauren. Today, I am going to go over the syllabus for Parenting 101: a class that I will be teaching online via blog post.
Materials needed:
- A little common sense
- A selfless disposition
- www.mylifeincomplete.com
- A sense of humor
Course objectives:
- Students will work to achieve the following:
a. Recognize the role and responsibility of a parent
b. Excercise good judgment in raising children
2. Students will be exposed to the parenting blunders observed by – you guessed it – me
Students are expected to:
- Read the materials
- Learn from the mistakes of others
- Comment on the posts
WEEK 1: Appropriate Television for Preschoolers
Allow me to present an example of poor parental judgment as illustrated by a trip to “the movie store” with Braden last week. At our Blockbuster, the Kids section is right next to the Television section. So while Brady was picking out his two flicks, I wandered one or two aisles down to find the next disc in a TV series I’ve been catching up on. A minute later I hear “OH MY GOSH! I can’t believe they have this!” The excitement for the video he had found amused me. I couldn’t wait to see what it was. Were we finally going to get to see something different for a change?
“MOM! You have to come see this! We HAVE to get this!” On my way back to him I asked, “What is it?”
“Come see!” he replies. As I approach the aisle, I find him pointing to a DVD and then as I realized what it was, the horror came over me at the same time he said with pure joy… “Sex and the City! I LOVE this show!”
WHAAAAAT!!?!?!?!?? Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod. My three-year-old just said “sex.” Don’t panic. Breathe.
“How do you know what that is, Braden?”
“We have that show at my dad’s.”
Oh. Phew. “So you mean you’ve seen the box at your dad’s, right? You don’t watch that show, right?”
“No, I watch it mom. [Ex-Husband’s Girlfriend] loves this show, too. We watch it on TV together.”
Trying not to boil over, I take a deep breath and say in a very stern voice, “Braden, this is a show for grown-ups. I don’t care if your dad and [Ex-Husband’s Girlfriend] say it’s okay. You are not to watch this show. I will talk to your dad about it. Do you understand?”
“Okay mom. I won’t watch it anymore.”
The next morning I called Ex-Husband to ask him about it, and you won’t believe it – he thought it was funny! Now, I’ll admit, the Blockbuster encounter certainly makes for a laugh-out-loud story – but he didn’t even think there was anything wrong with Braden watching this show. “It’s on TV, Lauren. There’s no nudity or profanity.” My mind was blown. How can this be? How can he be this clueless? How can THIS man be responsible for my child’s upbringing?
I spent the next ten minutes explaining why “Sex and the City” is inappropriate for children. (Braden happens to be three, but I would have the same reaction if he were 13!) I schooled him on TV, movie and video game ratings and encouraged him to use them. At the end of the call, Ex-Husband seemed to get on board with my view of what is appropriate television and agreed to comply. But should I really have to tell him this? How do I know my child is in good hands over there when his dad is oblivious to something so obvious? What’s next? Studio 54?
So to summarize today’s lesson, “Sex and the City” is NOT appropriate television for preschoolers!
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Are you kidding me!?
I dont consider myself to be much of a complainer. But sometimes these things all happen in one week and then I just can’t help it. Little annoyances all piled up until I can’t help but point it out.
Did you know that we cannot get by without an ATM card these days? I had no idea checks had become obsolete. (Mostly because I haven’t been using them.) But I lost my debit card last week so checks have been my way of life for five annoying days. You know who doesn’t take checks? The Blockbuster in my area that is closing and has therefore become a retail outlet. You know who won’t let you write a check over the purchase amount if you haven’t written a few checks there in the last ten years (because you’ve been busy keeping up with the times and using a debit card) so that you can finish your transaction at the Blockbuster across the street? Jewel.
Have you been to an Apple store? I ventured in last week because my iPhone has not been vibrating for about two months. I walked up to the desk and was asked what time my appointment was. My what? I need an appointment for customer service? Okay – I get it. I guess we were there on a pretty dead day, which made this concept seem ridiculous. I suppose if it had been packed, the purpose would have been more clear. But don’t look at me like I’m an alien because I didn’t know I needed an appointment. Truthfully, I think their Apple heads are a bit inflated. Not everyone has been to the Apple store, people! It’s not like a grocery store, where the customs are known. Give an iPhone carrying tech-NO mama a break!
Remember doctor’s notes? You had to bring them to excuse yourself from school, gym class, science projects. But Bally Total Fitness? You must be kidding me. In April I purchased 32 personal trainer appointments. I had used just under half of them when my company (which I have been at for less than a year) announced that we would have summer hours. This meant I would have to be at work an hour earlier all week long in order to enjoy a half day on Fridays. There goes my standing Tuesday/Wednesday 5:30 a.m. PT appointment. For the first few weeks I tried going in the evenings when I didn’t have Braden, but I just couldn’t keep it up. I spent the whole day dreading 8:00 p.m. If I don’t get it over with first thing, or at least on my way home from work, forget it. I don’t want to spend my evening after work anticipating an ass-whoopin’. So I told my trainer I’d be back in September. When I returned, we had a few sessions before I was informed that my sessions had actually expired – mind you I paid $700 for these sessions and was not informed of expiration, unless in fine print. I need a doctor’s note to get them back. YES! A doctor’s note!! Who are you, Bally? My parent? My school teacher? No! You are a business I patronize and paid good money to see my PT. I’d kick your ass if I were in better shape!
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