We have all experienced it. We are trying our best to handle a situation and then someone, who hasn’t any experience with what we are going through, decides what is best and tells us what we should do. I have had various responses over the years to the same scenario, but last week my response was uncontrolled laughter.
Arden and I dropped Nick off to visit with his sister Karen so that we could have a date. We were only gone a short while when the incident occurred. Nick decided it was time to clean up the legos from on the floor. Bridger, age 4, loves Legos. There were only a few, but a few too many according to Nick.
Nick is really unsteady right now, so he almost fell out of the chair onto the floor as he was trying to pick them up. This stressed Karen out, obviously, so she told Nick to leave the Legos alone.
Nick didn’t like that. He pouted. He tried to get up. He was told to sit down. He was frustrated. Karen went back to what she was doing. Nick then noticed Bridger walking into the room.
“Bridger has Legos, Karen,” he tattled.
“I am ok with it, Nick. Don’t worry.” she said. Bridger had one in each hand.
“No he do that Karen, he clean them up.”
“Nick, I am the mom, I am ok with him holding onto to the Legos. Just mind your own business.”
At this point that should have been enough. Karen is the parent, there was no imminent danger and she was unconcerned that there were a few Legos on the floor with the potential of two more joining them. However that was not the end of the story.
Nick muttered, “He not do that. He clean it up. I right.”
Karen and I laughed out loud when she was recounting the story to me. Nick was sitting next to me, so I asked him about it.
“Are you still frustrated, Nick?”
“Yes, I right. He not do that.”
I laughed again. I tried to convince Nick that correcting Karen’s children is not his responsibility. He still doesn’t agree.
If I can’t get Nick to not step in and attempt to correct situations that he has no experience with and are not his responsibility, how can I ever expect that other adults who are typically developed to mind their own business? I guess I have been unrealistic in my expectations. I know that sometimes people have the best intentions, but sometimes they are just being judgmental and critical like Nick was this past week.
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