A Small Vent

Warning! I need to vent for a moment, and so I am doing it here. So if your not in the mood to read a disgruntled spout, then proceed to something a little more fun.

Let me begin with the following statement: I am an overprotective parent. Beyond overprotective. My babies are my world. D and I have never had anyone outside of the family or one of our close friends even watch our children. They are the most precious things in my life. (Now some people would call me crazy based just on this confession. I realize we all have different parenting styles and we each need to do what is right for us.)

Now to why I need to vent. We have a family event next month where we have been asked not to bring O. (Due to the formality of the event, they don't want children under five.) This event actually results in us needing to attend two functions on two different days without O. So, we are bracing ourselves and having one of D's good friends daughters watch O for the shorter event and we agreed that I would then see if someone from my family could watch O the second day for the longer time frame.

So, I email my mother to see if she's available. She responds that why doesn't she just take O for the whole weekend up to the lake and he can stay with my parents in their camper. First, O is the most busy toddler in the world, and he doesn't listen, and he does what he wants. My mom's response is that children act differently when their parents aren't the ones disciplining them. (I have proof from more than one person that this just frankly isn't the case for O.) So, I ignore the email, because I want to make sure I respond very carefully.

Ten minutes later (as I am en route to my bus stop) I see that she called my work phone (which I think should only be used for emergencies if you do not work with me.) Then an hour later, she calls my cell phone ... but we're in the middle of dinner, so I don't answer it. Then five seconds later she calls my house number. I explain that we are eating and ask if I can call her back. She gets all huffy and says, she just needed to ask me two questions and one she needed to ask right away.

So, after dinner, I call her. She brings up the idea of O staying with her. I explain my objections as nicely as possible, but she doesn't let it go. I end the call with no promises. Now, HERE'S THE VENT ... the next day, when she knows I am not home, SHE CALLS D and tries to convince him that we should let them have O for the weekend. He very tactfully handles the situation. (And doesn't even tell me about it until two days later.) I, however, am livid. I cannot believe she would try to go around my back, when she knows how I feel about it and try to convince my husband differently. Fortunately, D and I are a pretty united front and know how we both feel about it. But seriously, how immature, and talk about causing a situation where I am now going to have to be very firm going forward and clearly state ... don't try to get a different answer by asking my husband. (I mean, seriously, this is like a kid going to daddy because mommy said no ... for Pete's sake, my six-year-old doesn't even try that tactic!)

Okay, there, I'm done venting. Thank you.