Not my usual trip to Target...a dilemma of sorts

So today at lunch, I found myself wandering the clearance aisles of Target, seeking deals that I just couldn't possibly live without.  There is nothing like a little red clearance tag that gets my heart pounding with joy.  Well, maybe that is an exaggeration... a nice glass of wine seems to have the same affects on me lately. Ok, I lied again.  Not just lately.  It always has that affect on me...both wine and clearance tags.  Anyway, my favorite section of Target is the baby aisles, because let's face it: Target has cute baby clothes that rival those at the baby gap.  And they are half the price.  What does that mean to me?  I can get twice as many clothes at Target, because my logic is this- from what I am saving by not shopping at baby gap, I have excess funds that I would be spending on baby clothes anyway, so I my as well get more for less.  Ok, perhaps my logic is totally flawed, but I don't care. 


My story actually has nothing to do with anything in the first paragraph, sorry about the tangent.

So as I was looking at baby clothes, a mom around my age (perhaps a bit older) was on the other side of the department looking at the women's clothing section with two small children- probably around the ages of 15 months, and maybe 3ish.  It was pretty clear that the mom was visible annoyed with them, I could sense her frustration from across the department, simply by the way she was jamming hangers back on to the racks and breathing heavily.  She was also in a fascinating phone call with someone about last night's latest drama with a friend, or husband? Not sure.  One of the children, the older one, was sitting in the cart and tugging on her shirt, clearly trying to get her attention, saying "Mommy."  She twisted her head around (Poltergeist style) and said to her child "SHUT UP!" She continued to say "If you don't shut up right now, you are getting nothing!  I can't believe that you act like such a naughty little selfish brat all the time!"  STOP THE PRESSES.  Did I seriously just hear her talk to her young child like that, in that tone?  I immediately pretended like her child was Ledoux... and how I would never speak to her in that tone, with those harsh words... it just broke my heart.

I get it, us mom's get frustrated. Its over 100 degrees outside (which tends to make everyone a little cranky.) I am no angel.  I have had to put Ledoux in her crib, walk away, take a breath and collect myself, and start over.  In public, Ledoux has thrown straight up temper tantrums. I didn't yell at her. I didn't call her names or put her down.  I don't care what the situation is, no child should ever be spoken to in that way.  The way in which we speak to our babies, regardless of age, is shaping how they see the world, how they will develop, the type of little person (and eventually big person) they will become... Speaking to our babies must be intentional. Take for example the picture below:

Take this into account, the next time you want to fly off the handle at your little darling:

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy

If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident

If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate

If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice

If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith

If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself

If a child lives with acceptance, and friendship, he learns to love...
(Source: lovingearthmama.com)

At that moment, I wasn't sure what to do... do you confront the mom?  Do you try and ease the situation?  Or do you just walk away, and pretend that you didn't hear it?  What would you do in this situation? Sound off mommies!

Fun Facts About Me + The Liebster Award!

Fact: I really love blogging.  I mean LOVE it!  People ask me all the time how in the heck do you find time to blog? (Which has been challenging this last week or so, I admit!)  For me, it is a creative outlet.  I have always enjoyed sitting down, and writing out my thoughts. I write in the early morning before Ledoux wakes up, or wait until she goes to bed at night and I have poured myself a glass of wine.  As a little girl, I kept diary after diary... some that I still have! As I got older, I lost sight of my writing, and recently picked it back up when I got pregnant with my little Ledoux to chronicle that time for my husband, who was serving over seas during my pregnancy.  It was a way for him to stay in touch, and feel like he was here.  I have been working really hard on expanding my blog, and developing more of a following for it- and I am so excited that I was nominated for the Liebster Award!  Meg over at Make Do Mama was so kind to nominate me!  So here we go, I will give 6 facts about myself, and answer 5 questions from Meg who nominated me.  Then, I will nominate other small blogs to do the same thing, and answer the same questions!  Yes, it is a bit chain-game-ish, but its also a fun way to learn more about other bloggers!

6 facts about me:

 

1.) Growing up, my nickname was Reba-cca (my real name is Rebecca) because I was obsessed with Reba McEntire. Seriously. Obsessed. So much so that in volleyball, everyone on the team had crazy nicknames that we would yell out to encourage each other. My nickname wasn't "spiker" or anything related to volleyball... it was Reba.  And she was my first concert.  True story.

 

2.) By the time I entered college, I rebelled against my country roots, and decided I wanted to be the total opposite. So I became OBSESSED with Lil' Wayne.  I mean, obsessed.  Almost as much as I was with Reba.  I went out and bought a Navigator on 24s, and memorized every lyric of every one of his songs on the Carter 2 CD.  (It took me months to memorize those, by the way!)  I became know as Lil' Beezy (Beezy=Becca, get it?)  I even made my friend Christi go to his concert with me. And I put a poster up in my cube at work of him, and wrote my name on his stomach, so it appeared he had my name tattooed on him.  Yup, crazy. Don't worry, I have since found my way back to country.

 

3.) I am from Wyoming- where we have more antelope per square foot then people.  Its true, google it.  More animals per square foot than people (yet we are something like the 10th or 11th largest state land-wise.)  Is your mind blown yet?  Another fact about Wyoming: you can drive for miles and never see a soul.  Or come to a town.  I LOVE that.

 

4.) I couldn't swallow pills until my 2nd year in college.  I learned then by swallowing Tic Tacs, and slowly graduated to actual pills.  Before then, I would crush them, and eat them in ice cream.  Still to this day, I would rather fight the pain than take a pill.  I guess you don't have to worry about me getting stuck on pain pills or anything.

 

5.) Ledoux, my sweet little baby, is named after Chris Ledoux, a famous country singer originally from Wyoming. If you don't know him, you should google him.  I secretly hope she becomes a famous country singer with a name like that (see picture below!) 

 

 

6.) I cook pretty much every meal, every night, in the crock pot.  Serious, ask my husband.  Almost every dinner is from that fabulous little invention.  And it really doesn't matter what you put in there, it always comes up tasting amazing.  The other night, I did frozen chicken, rotel, diced tomatoes (from the can, because I am lazy), and some green chiles and jalapenos (again, from the can, because I am lazy)... and we had the most ahh-mazing dinner.  I took it and put it on tortillas with some guac and black beans.. easy and delish. 

 

5 Questions:

Q: What musical artist are you listening to these days?

I am obsessed with Eric Church: Like Jesus Does.  Well, anything Eric Church actually!  There is something about him, and his voice, that makes me want to kick back and have a cold one (or two!)  I also love Lee Brice, Kip Moore, and of course... Reba and Chris Ledoux.  Mostly country music these days.

 

Q: What do you say when your (or someone else’s) kid asks you why the sky is blue?

Why do you think it is blue?  I love throwing the question back to the sweet children, and hear their reasoning. (Oh my the answers you get!)

 

Q: If money were no object, where would you travel on your next vacation?

The Mayan Ruins, Aztec Ruins, Incan Ruins... I am so intrigued.  Oh, and Roswell, New Mexico **creepy X Files music playing**

 

Q: What was your very first job?

Does baby sitting count?  No?  Ok, I worked at JC Penneys in the Men's department.  I actually really enjoyed it. 

 

Q: At what age is your earliest memory?

I am not sure how old I was, but I found a butterfly that had a broken wing, and wanted to sew it back together to help...so I put the butterfly in my little pretend plastic sewing machine.  Needless to say, I didn't help. :(  Poor butterfly.  However, my heart was in the right place!

So here is the blogs I want to nominate for this little award:

1.)  KelliAnn over at Kell The Capturer.  KelliAnn is an amazing budding photographer, and is a "picture blogger."  She posts pictures that she has captured from San Diego to Australia to Texas, and everywhere in between.
 

2.) Andi over at How I do Paleo:  If you are interested in the Paleo diet, or just some amazing and healthy recipes, this girl has TONS!  And she updates her blog with them all the time! LOVE!

My super talented bro took this picture of Doo and I, and I love it!