Just Another Mommy Blog

You always here about competitive moms. I have heard them on the playground..."Oh, Johnny just learned how to do that? How old is he, I mean, my Daniel's been doing that for months..." I've even talked to a few. I usually just say things like, "Well, they'll all be turning over/crawling/walking/pooping on the toilet/insert cool new skill here by the time they go to the prom..." and leave it at that.

But today, I wanted to scream. Not at the competitive mom, but at the competitive grandpa. I had to go to the lab for routine bloodwork, and Martin and Chloe came with. Chloe, all dressed up in pink from head to toe, got fed up in her stroller, so Martin took her out, and walked around the waiting room with her. She held one of Martin's fingers, and just toddled around looking at everyone, and offering her cow for people to play with (she's good at sharing, is yours?).

Anyway, this old guy looks at her and says, "How old is IT?"

(It? She is dressed head to toe in pink, and maybe the old guy is color blind, but Chloe also has flowers and ruffles on her pant legs.)

Martin: SHE is just over a year.
Old guy: Really, because my grandson is that age, and he can run all over the place.
Martin: That's nice.

Martin was more gracious about it than I would have been. I wanted to speak up on her behalf, say, oh yeah, well, can your kid say Giraffe? How about tickle? How about "whatisthat?" Oh, does he know that a cow says mmmmooooo, and a cat says "meowmeowmeow"? Can he tell you where a hat goes, and whether he has pooped his diaper? Does he know that the clock says tick tock tick tock? Can he blow his nose? Does he hold up 1 finger and say "wah" when you ask him how old he is? Yeah, I didn't think so.

I've never felt that competitive before over her...and this was just some random old man. Someone I'll likely never cross paths with again.

Ah well, I know Chloe is better than his grandson, and that is all that matters!