Peeing in Toy Boxes
We just moved to a new neighborhood and we finally got invited over for our first playdate. These two moms in one of our music classes invited my 3 year old son and I to come over after class. We of course accepted! I was very excited to make some new friends and imagined this playdate after music class becoming a ritual and our friendships flourishing… While we drank coffee downstairs and chatted, the children played upstairs. All seemed okay until the little girl (who’s house it was) came barreling down the stairs to announce that my son had peed in the toybox. My son came down soon after, confessing his crime and saying that the other children told him to do it. I was horrified. Before I could begin to apologize the other mother (it wasn’t even her house) asked me, “Does he pee in toy boxes at home?” How does a mother respond to something like that. Did she think I condoned that type of behavior? Did she think I allowed him to pee in toy boxes strewn around my house? That we don’t use toilets? Only toy boxes? She was obviously questioning my parenting and blaming me for my son’s behavior!! I was speechless. I went upstairs and tried to clean up what I could, I reprimanded my son, apologized profusely and sheepishly made my exit. And I haven’t been invited back since.
