So towards the last weeks of school I dropped my little one to school and I had forgotten something for him so I went back to the car to get it, after leaving him with his teacher. On my way back, I passed one of his friends and his dad, and made some bland comment about the weather being rainy after a long weekend making it more difficult to get kids out the door. Then ran off to drop the item for the little one.
On my way back I saw them still making their way slowly to the school, and the dad exploded at me about how I am always giving him crap about being late for school with his kids. Hmmmm. So I started to say that whatever he thought I meant, I certainly didn't mean to imply anything by it, but he interrupted me with "No more!" He was shouting at me, in front of his kids, about how I am always doing that, every time I see him. Mind you, I think I had seen him about 5 times in the school year on the way to school and the most I've exchanged was "Hi, how are you?", but perhaps my sprightly smiling ways were a bit too much for him. Anyways, he continued berating me, he had had enough of my crap and didn't I know that most mornings it was just him trying to get 3 kids out the door (and no, I didn't).
In my younger more childish days, I may have smiled at him just to irritate him further, as it was I vacillated between my more mature self ("clearly he is using me as a wife substitute which is who he really wanted to fight with, and perhaps I should offer to bring his kids to school with me" and my more mature post-cancer self "I would offer to get his kids, but it means getting my kids out the door 5-10 mins earlier to account for his kids...naah, that's more stress than I can sign up for".
I haven't seen him since that day, because I don't normally pass that way, and he didn't apologize which means he must believe he is totally justified. Sigh..just makes getting the kids together a bit more complicated because I am not sure I want to be around folks who can't control themselves very well, nor want my kids to be..too harsh? Yes, I do tend to be that way.
On my way back I saw them still making their way slowly to the school, and the dad exploded at me about how I am always giving him crap about being late for school with his kids. Hmmmm. So I started to say that whatever he thought I meant, I certainly didn't mean to imply anything by it, but he interrupted me with "No more!" He was shouting at me, in front of his kids, about how I am always doing that, every time I see him. Mind you, I think I had seen him about 5 times in the school year on the way to school and the most I've exchanged was "Hi, how are you?", but perhaps my sprightly smiling ways were a bit too much for him. Anyways, he continued berating me, he had had enough of my crap and didn't I know that most mornings it was just him trying to get 3 kids out the door (and no, I didn't).
In my younger more childish days, I may have smiled at him just to irritate him further, as it was I vacillated between my more mature self ("clearly he is using me as a wife substitute which is who he really wanted to fight with, and perhaps I should offer to bring his kids to school with me" and my more mature post-cancer self "I would offer to get his kids, but it means getting my kids out the door 5-10 mins earlier to account for his kids...naah, that's more stress than I can sign up for".
I haven't seen him since that day, because I don't normally pass that way, and he didn't apologize which means he must believe he is totally justified. Sigh..just makes getting the kids together a bit more complicated because I am not sure I want to be around folks who can't control themselves very well, nor want my kids to be..too harsh? Yes, I do tend to be that way.
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