to the 20-somethings in coffee shops who roll their eyes at me with my kid

Before I begin this story... I'd like to say that I am not a "ranty" type of person. I hop on soap boxes very minimally and briefly, and I like to keep it that way.  I also like to keep it within real life conversations and not in long, annoying facebook statuses.  With that said, I just needed to get a parenting dilemma off of my chest.

So you know that baby or toddler who's been so loud in a restaurant, on a plane, or at a coffee shop... the one who caused you to think to yourself "MAN! Why did that mom bring that kid in here? Or why don't they leave or give some discipline?!"  Well, today my kid was the one crowing like a rooster in the middle of a quiet, trendy coffee shop, and it just came out of nowhere!  His little 1 year old cousin who he hasn't seen in a while was there, and he literally COULD NOT help but show off with all of his (to him) hilarious jokes and animal noises. Also he was super excited about going to the zoo, and was not having much patience as we let the rain pass. 

​This is where you guys come into play...

Multiple times in coffee shops with my kids or my friends' kids, we've had babies squeal or toddlers say something loud and received dramatic eye rolls from young(er), presumably childless adults.

I really just wonder WHY?

Do you really think the mom just carelessly brought her child along to ruin some strangers coffee shop experience?  Definitely (not) on my weekly to-do list... "Let's go annoy some strangers, Rowan! It'll be a blast! I'd love to publicly have my parenting judged by people who don't know me!"

Once when we received an eye roll, the 6 month old baby in tow was literally just squealing with JOY.  Really? What do you expect anyone to do? Try to make the baby less happy but not so unhappy that she's crying and annoying you once again? 

Today my child did something unexpected. Had I known he would turn into uncontrollable barn animals on a whim, I would not have come in here and sat next to your coffee date.  

So the next time you see a kid acting a little crazy... have you ever thought that they may have NEVER done that before?  That family might've been to that coffee shop hundreds of times and never experienced their kid acting that way.  Tiny humans are ridiculously unpredictable.

So really, what does rolling your eyes help?  

To my children who may read these blogs one day that I've written in their honor... PLEASE, please, please don't grow up to be one of those 21 year olds.  Be the young adults to help the young mom with her kids or engage with them and make a joke while she's trying to gather her things and get out of there.

There's such a thing as friendly banter to relieve awkward tension...

​and also ear buds. ​