Kindergarten Horror Show

What would you expect your kindergartner to say when he sees you every day after school?  Maybe a big hug and kiss, “Hi Mommy!  I missed you!”  or “Thanks for the note you left in my lunch box mom, that was swell.”   So far, my kindergartner greets me by shouting (in front of the crowd of parents waiting for pick-up) “You’re the worst mom in the world.  You let me wear this shirt and I got hot.”  Or maybe by saying, “Shit, damn it” as we walk through the upscale, preppy crowd populating our new school district.

Holy White Trash!   Control your child woman! Because of my recent separation, my children and I moved into an apartment in a much wealthier district than where we would have gone to school previously.  I was  much more comfortable in the less fancy environs on the other side of the tracks. I know that money is no indicator of happiness or quality of people, but these folks look pretty wholesome.  The moms wear polo shirts and a great tan; the dads are either business casual or Ivy League messy.  I don’t imagine them cursing in front of their kids or anything similarly uncouth.

   With my new single status, I generally feel un-tethered, not quite a member of the club. Normally I am comfortable with who I am and how I live my life (messily) but when my kindergartener berates me and swears every afternoon in front of a crowd of strangers.  I have no idea how to handle it.He actually likes kindergarten alot, and is doing really well. He just freaks out at me every single day.

 I am not at all surprised by the swearing, my children have been masters of cursing for years.  I just have no idea how to prevent or deflect his rudeness and end of the school day rage. What I have done so far is to clamp my mouth shut get a firm hold on his hand and get to the car as quickly as possible.

 I’ve quit showing up with homemade cookies and milk in a sippy in the car.  If it’s milk, he wants juice, if it’s juice, he wants water. If it’s cookies, I didn’t bring enough.  He has me so beaten down, I let him walk in the house and play video games, because I just can’t take him yelling at me anymore. Help me battle the kindergarten nasties, please.

Original DC Metro Moms post. You can also find Lindsay at A Lettered Woman.