One of Sam's refrains right now is "I wanna do it." Tie her shoes, pour milk into a cup, turn on the light, put on her coat -- all things I could do in two seconds that take her two minutes before she gets frustrated and yells for help.
But the other day while shopping, I felt her pain.
We were at the checkout in a major store. As I pulled the cart past the cashier to load my bags, Sam saw the contraption where you swipe cards to pay, and she snagged the attached pen.
Sam: "I wanna do it. Can I do it, Mommy?"
Me: "No, Sam. You need to put the pen down. When I'm ready, you can help me." (I always let her hold the end of the pen as I use it.)
Sam put the pen back, then poised a finger over the screen and glanced sideways at me.
Sam: "Can I do it?"
Me: "I said no, Sam. You have to wait."
Just then, the cashier jumped in.
Cashier: "Don't touch that, you hear me? Your mommy said no, and you shouldn't be touching it anyway."
My mouth was actually hanging open. Then, as Sam stood there with her finger still arched over the screen, the woman huffed, grabbed the contraption and spun it around. Sam, bewildered, stared at me.
Sam wasn't hurting anything. She was listening to me, although she was testing her limits. So what exactly made this woman think she could discipline my child?
Finally, as I was paying -- which clearly requires my attention as well as both my hands -- Sam reached out of the cart and gave the carrel that holds the bags a little push, making it spin for a second. The cashier slammed her hand down on it and locked it in place.
Why didn't I say anything? I don't know. I think it was the fear that I was, in fact, being a bad mommy and a lax disciplinarian. But I just don't think I was.
The point is, I was doing it. It was taking me longer than that woman clearly wanted, but I was doing it.
What do you think? Was I being too lax? Did the cashier have a right to step in?
