Happy Friday! I hope you've had a great week! Mine was pretty good! Easter dinner, birthday party, supplies purchased for projects to make for the new grandbaby, and some thrifting time!! As I contemplated my thrifty history, I had to go "way back" for something "funny." (At the time, it was not funny at all. In fact, it took years for me to not get angry whenever I thought about it. It still may not be truly funny, but I'll share it anyway...
I'll start with a disclaimer, of sorts. I am fully aware that we (my children & I) are not, and have never been, perfect. I was always fully willing to take an unruly child outside rather than subject everyone to it! They've been naughty, as all children will be from time to time. They've also been complimented on their manners & good behavior. We all have good & bad days, right? I believe it is important to show our kidlets that we have their backs & will stand up for them! Here's my story...
This has been about 10 years ago, WOW...am I getting THAT old? (also, not funny!) I was visiting my mom & that part of the family, so we went to one of the thrift stores in their town. Their prices were a bit on the high side, but they had great sales!
My boys were young, 8 & 14 ish... This particular area of the store was a bit crowded, shelves close to eachother, not leaving much room for people movement. They had a large clock hanging on the end of a shelf, and part of the clock extended out, past the edge of the shelf - at perfect, head/shoulder height for my 8 year old. He had scooted to the side of the aisle to let an adult go by - and he bumped this clock, which fell on him, bumping his head & scraping up his shoulder. It fell to the floor, and if I remember correctly ended up with a crack in it. After checking on my son, I was on my way to the check-out to tell them what had happened and offer to buy the newly-cracked clock. Before I got there, I had a cranky store employee/volunteer yelling at me for not keeping my kids under control...I'm not sure exactly what was said to me, because I started seeing red & requested (demanded?) that I be able to speak with a supervisor or manager.
The manager was promptly notified and I explained that my child had, indeed, been "under control" the entire time, and in fact, had been behaving quite politely by moving to let an adult go past...AND that the clock had been displayed in/on an area that was not big enough for it. The manager took the clock & put it back on the hook and agreed that it should not have been hung there to begin with. I also pointed out the bump on my son's head & scrape on his shoulder...and said that I had been on my way to BUY the clock when the other person started yelling at me. The manager apologized profusely for: the injuries AND the manner in which we had been treated. She admitted that the clock was displayed unsafely & I was told I did not need to buy the clock and she offered discounts on future purchases, which I declined, stating that it wouldn't be necessary as we lived out of state & would likely just not return to the store on future visits to town.
This story resurfaces every now & then...and we do laugh. I think we laugh because it all turned out fine - noone was permanently harmed. I counseled the kids to keep a better watch of their movements, ya know, because that's a good parental thing to do...BUT the kids got to see Mama Bear defend one of her cubs, and that is priceless :)
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