A Mother's Karma

I am sure that there comes a time in every new mom's life when she reflects on the horrible thoughts that ran through her head or the snide criticisms that passed her lips in regards to someone else's childrearing. You think back on those snooty (and yet naiive) judgements, get red in the face, and want to run around and apologize to every mother you have given a dirty look to at a restaurant or at Walmart or at the local Chuck-E-Cheese. Believe you me, I have done my share (plus the shares of 10 other moms, I think) of judging mothers before I had kids. I always thought, "Why can't you get your baby to stop crying so loud??....Why are your kids running around the frickin' restaurant?...You let your baby watch TV???!!!???"

Another lovely thought I always had was in regards to appliances. I remember when we were renovating our kitchen in our Louisville house several years ago, everyone said "Don't get stainless steel appliances!". People advised that they were hard to maintain and that they displayed fingerprints like Britney Spears displays skin. Hmmm, I thought cynically to myself, A: I never am having kids; B: What's the big deal about fingerprints...they wipe off, you know!; and C: How lazy do you have to be to wipe off a few fingerprints from your dishwasher??? Sheesh! Now that I have a cruising 9 month old, I am chagrined to admit that I totally get it. A: I have a kid who is attracted to shiny objects (just like his mama); B: Fingerprints do drive me crazy for some reason; and C: I guess I am either pretty lazy or do not prioritize daily appliance scrubbing in my life because those fingerprints tend to stay there longer than they should. Darn karma. It gets you every time. :)