Zing!

 A quick little story from last week that made me laugh.

Lamp, Zuzu and I were at Home Depot getting some paint chips and paint samples.  As we were waiting in line to speak with someone in the paint department a man came rather close to us.  He walked up slowly, staring at Lamp.  His approach was friendly-ish but he wasn’t saying anything at first so it was a little awkward–a “I’m coming closer to just stare at your daughter for a second” vibe.  He was noticing the paint chips she was holding in her feet and finally said something like, Well she can just do that all on her own can’t she? 

Yep, I said.  I was smiling and polite, but also still a little hesitant due to his initial slow-walk and stare approach.  It was a quick exchange, I think he might has said like one more thing and then walked away.

As he walked away but still well within ear shot Lamp turned to me and asked, Does his face always look like that? 

OK, now when I tell this part of the story I just about die laughing, but at the time I whispered a quick shush and told her that he might thinks she was being rude.

She looks at me kinda confused and then Lamp says, What’s the big deal mom?  

So I thought about it.  And I realized she’s right.  It’s not a big deal.  Holy cussword it is NOT a big deal.  As a mom I often feel the need to make sure my children are always being polite and respectful.  But if there was ever a girl that I needed to cut some slack in this area, it’s my daughter who knows a lot about being stared at, pointed at, and talked about in general.  If my 3 year old totally zings someone else who was staring at her, practically bug-eyed just 10 seconds before and she calls him out on it–hilariously by the way–It is NOT a big deal.      

In fact, it’s awesome.

And of course lets not forget the fact that she’s 3.  Lacking tact at the age of 3?  Acceptable.  Lacking tact at the age of 50 something?  Not as acceptable.

So I said, You’re right.  It’s not a big deal and I don’t know if his face always looks like that.