The Royal Stink Eye

Everyone has received the infamous “stink eye” at some point in their life. However, “stink eyes” from an over protected, first time mom take on a whole new meaning. I am on the receiving end of these quite often and I have perfected the art of dodging the stink eye beam before it strikes.

The hits most often take place at mommy and me classes and parks. I bet you are asking yourself what spurs a “strike.” Before I answer, a little bit about my parenting skills are needed for some background.

For those that don’t know, I am a mom of two high-energy boys who are five and two years old. They are both extremely independent and social and don’t need a lot of hand-holding. I give them a lot of rope to hang themselves and end up doing a lot of seagull management once they have committed the crime. These child infractions include grabbing a toy out of another child’s hand, pushing another child for no apparent reason, throwing sand for the fun of it in another child’s face, putting sand down a child’s shirt and in the hood of their sweatshirt, or teaching other children how to jump off a four foot platform, jumping naked in a mud puddle at the park, etc. As you can imagine, the list goes on and on, because kids will be kids and there should not be any other way to exist in this world. There is nothing more special than a child’s innocence and ability to experience the world. Every parent would be a liar if they said their child hasn’t committed at least one of the listed infractions. So why even bother blabbing on about these instances…here’s why!
Most moms have the keen sense and ability to prevent these instances before they become a reality. Not so much in my world. Since I am completely blind, I miss them almost 99.9 percent of the time. Hence the STINK EYE! I come flying in once I hear the crying and try to play catch up to even understand what has happened. To the other mom’s defense, she has no idea that I am blind and always late to the game on these things. The bottom line is that I have great kids and if I have to take a few stink eyes in their defense bring ‘em on.

Just yesterday, I received a whopping stink eye and it wasn’t even from the child’s parent. My two-year-old son Ari took something out of my bag and starting running away from me in a crowded park of families. He thought he was so…cute and funny! I started sprinting after him only to trip over a little girl who could not be more than two-years-old herself. I was mortified and felt horrible. At the moment of contact, I heard a complete stranger gasp from behind. I knew exactly what he was thinking, “what is this woman’s problem.” I walked the bawling girl to her parents, said I was sorry and explained that I tripped over her. The parents were extremely understanding and said don’t worry about it. We did not see what happened; she is just tired. The reality is that it was totally my fault. The little girl was in my blind spot and I literally took her out. It took every ounce of energy in my body to not completely lose me shit. These are moments I need to stop, take a breath and remember my limitations. I hate these moments. They remind me of a slap in the face when I don’t need it. I live with my disability every day. I stare it straight in the face and accept our destiny together. But…it’s these moments that make me vulnerable and allow a sadness to seep into my pores that it difficult to shake off.