This weekend my parents were in town, partly to see our new apartment, and partly so my very practical, handyman dad could fix a few things around the house, like installing an outlet in the kitchen, putting a hook in the ceiling and telling us that we are in fact able to sand our floors and white wash them. I enjoyed their company as always but Zoe was ill and surprisingly grumpy. So grumpy that she was difficult to take out and screamed pretty much the whole time in the stroller or when walking by herself. The only thing that was good enough was her mother carrying her. At one low point, my mom and I (who were out with Zoe by ourselves) decided that we needed a break and on the way into the cafe a frowning middle aged woman passed us. "She has to have a hat on" (Hon ska ha mösse på!), she ordered and looked harshly at me, then back at a snowsuit clad Zoe who was screaming her head off. I was rolling Zoe through the door held open by my mom as I started steaming inside my head, the irony of course being that this had happened before. And exactly like last time, my temper got the better of me and while the woman righteously walked away with her head held up high, I yelled quite a few profanities after her. My mom seemed a bit shocked and Zoe magically stopped wailing. I took a few deep breaths when we were all fully inside the cafe and looked behind me to discover three people, staff and guests, stare at me. I held my head high as I took Zoe's hand and walked over to the counter to order our coffee.
I am still looking for the perfect reply to this insane interfering with something that 1. is not that bad and 2. is not their problem. Not to talk about 3. is a big problem between me and Zoe since she takes her hat off the minute she has gotten it on (and yes, she has about 5 different types; the ones she can't pick off herself, she just pulls and screams bloody murder until I remove it). I wouldn't think that the Swedish social services will take your child away from you, even if you commit the massive parental failure of not making sure your kid wears a hat, but I could be mistaken. At least with the way people react here, it seems to be as close to child abuse as you can get. Who knew?
I am still looking for the perfect reply to this insane interfering with something that 1. is not that bad and 2. is not their problem. Not to talk about 3. is a big problem between me and Zoe since she takes her hat off the minute she has gotten it on (and yes, she has about 5 different types; the ones she can't pick off herself, she just pulls and screams bloody murder until I remove it). I wouldn't think that the Swedish social services will take your child away from you, even if you commit the massive parental failure of not making sure your kid wears a hat, but I could be mistaken. At least with the way people react here, it seems to be as close to child abuse as you can get. Who knew?
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