So any of you that are FB friends of mine probably saw my post last week that Mairin had made a friend at the playground. I was really excited that she had been able to play with someone her own age for a few hours, and that the little girl was visiting her grandma who lived only a few doors from us. Well, the little girl and her grandma just showed up at our door. Chris went up to answer, came back down, and with a very confused look on his face said, "They want Mairin to go shopping with them." My response was, "Alone?" Now, I have a hard time dropping my kid at the sitter, who I think is wonderful, but it still isn't me, so understand the immediate mama bear instincts that came over me. He nodded yes, and I could see from the look on his face that he wasn't comfortable with the idea either. On the other hand, we both knew that we were out of our element here. Not wanting to be rude, we took a quick second to think out our options - politely decline, send her off with the "wolves," or go with her. The last seemed the best. So we quickly gathered our belongings, and headed up the stairs and out to the driveway where they were waiting for us. Shit. This being Europe and all, they have a car reminiscent of something out of a Cracker Jack box, and there is no way 4 adults and 2 children plus car seats are ever fitting in this tin can. My first instinct is Chris goes due to his advantage linguistically. He looks at me, and because I'm the mom and he's just arrived home after a busy day at school, he's assuming I'll go. Grandma sees the dilemma and reminds us that she speaks a little English too. Great. Really not wanting this awkwardness to continue on I offer to go back downstairs and retrieve Mairin's car seat. Grandma starts telling Chris there is no need, not illegal, the store is just down the road. Really?! Really?! First you want to take my kid after meeting for a few hours on the playground, and now you think she doesn't need a car seat. Well, I offer this up to anyone reading this blog... What would your next move have been?
Have Chris translate - "know it may sound strange to you but it's ingrained
ReplyDeletefor us - no car travel without being in the carseat'- will have to pass on the invitation" then invite her for tea/coffee when she gets back.
I agree with Judith. Very diplomatic way of handling the situation and hopefully creating a relationship with the grandparent. More than likely Grandma is like most Grandma's and just wants to make her grandchild happy.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mama Bear instincts exist for a reason...we tend to ignore them in the name of politeness.