Bad A$$ Kids

                                                                          


I made a trip to Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping.  As I was making my way through the aisles, I heard a shrieking scream.  "I want it!  I want it! I want it!!"   I turned around to see a little boy look as though he was break dancing in the middle of the aisle.  Yall already know what it was, your classic temper tantrum.  You know how it is, a child see's something they want and they go to reach for it or ask for it and the parent says no and after this its like slow motion.  As soon as the word nooooooo fires from the parents mouth the whole situation falls apart and you have an embarrassed parent and fascinated onlookers rubbernecking like a four car accident.  As this scene was unraveling in front of me, I took a trip down memory lane.  I remembered an afternoon in particular when I was to babysit my cousins daughter who was notoriously known in my family as a "bad a$$ little girl".   When my cousin dropped her off I thought I had everything under control.  I have snacks laid out, my kids are here waiting to play with her, I have coloring sheets on hand, its all good.  Thirty minutes later I realized I couldn't have been so unprepared.  My curtains were ripped down, my jewelry had been ravaged through and tangled up, my perfumes had been all mixed together.  I don't like to discipline other peoples children but in this situation I had to take action, I put her in time out. (I don't condone using physical force on other peoples kids).  After thinking and feeling bad about making her sit in a corner, I started to think about what I could do to be a better babysitter.   My kids were always cool with a snack and a coloring sheet but she was a different case.  As soon as the word different crossed my mind, I realized, she's different from my kids, she isn't my child and I was setting myself up for failure when I expected her to be the same as them.  I gently went over to her and asked her  "What would you like to do?"  She smiled brightly and said "can we all play dress up?"  After this my afternoon of terror ended with laughter and ultimately one of the best afternoons I have ever had.  I found out she is a creative bright, sensitive little girl who has great fashion sense and can draw in a fierce eye brow!!  Through this situation I realized that there is no such things as bad kids, she just needed a little more attention than my kids. Instead of  a dormant babysitter, she needed an interactive one.  This six year old taught me a life lesson and how to think outside of the box when you feel your in a hopeless situation and for that I am grateful for that afternoon I spent with her.  So next time you see that child in the middle of an aisle replicating a scene from the exorcist, try thinking outside of the box and see if you can help that parent out, it takes a village folks, it takes a village.


Yoli G