Even before I knew I couldn't have kids of my own, the idea of joining a group like MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) or going to Mommy-and-Me classes seemed like the last thing I would do if I had a baby. There were groups of moms who would bring their kids to story time at the bookstore where I worked. They would sit around in the store's cafe and go on and on about their kids. It was like a one-up competition when you listened in on them. It would be nice to be friends with my child's friends' parents, but that doesn't always happen.
This morning, Shawn and I took Jarvis to the dog park we regularly take him to. It was unusually crowded. I really started to feel like it was similar to what I would have experienced hanging out with other moms at the playground with our kids.
There was this group of people who seemed to be related to each other. There were small children with them, including a baby. This alone makes me nervous at the dog park. Dogs don't pay attention to things like people standing in their way when they are deep in the fun of playing and chasing. I've seen people almost get knocked over on more than one occasion. So, grandma holding baby, for example, could be disastrous.
On top of those concerns, I also realized that being witness to other people's parenting, not only of children, but also of dogs, can be so frustrating. One of the women had a dog who was a humper. Yeah, most people would prefer their dogs not do this kind of thing. Her dog was smaller than Jarvis and some of the other dogs. He was desperate to show the others he was boss despite his size. She was yelling and yelling at him to stop. But, what she yelled was more ridiculous than anything. When they were all getting ready to leave, her dog went in for one last hump of Jarvis. It seems that this was the last straw for Jarvis, who had been pretty good about shrugging him off most of the time. Jarvis turned and growled and barked at him. The lady called her dog. He came over to her and when she moved a step, he cowered as she went on a rant at him about how she wouldn't feel bad if Jarvis bit him; how she hoped Jarvis would "bite [his] face off." She said something about how he'd get his face ripped off and she would cut it up in small pieces and feed it to Jarvis. WTF???
She apologizes to us and to Jarvis for her dog's behavior. And, as she holds the baby, she says to us that the behavior bothers her and maybe it's because she's a mother now. She said that her child doesn't need to see such violent behavior. WHAT THE FUCK????!!!! First, they are dogs, humping happens and testing each other's boundaries happens. It never really escalated to a giant, dog fighting disaster. Second, children are going to pick-up on the behavior of their parents more than they are the behavior of the family dog. This woman should be more concerned about the violent language, the cussing out, and overall obnoxiousness that she is carrying out in front of her child than she should be about the dogs.
I kind of had the urge to rip her face off, but Jarvis need not be witness to that kind of violent behavior.
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