Yesterday, as my family sat eating a rare dinner out, I had one of those Mommy moments you aren’t sure if you should be proud of or embarrassed by.
A lady in the booth beside us had a bit of a cold and was coughing. Suddenly my three-year old’s loud voice rang through the restaurant “Mommy! She used her hand to cover her mouth when she coughed!”. “It’s ok sweetie”, I assured Madison as I tried to distract her with a french fry. “No!” she continued forcefully, “You’re supposed to cough like this.”. Maddie then demonstrated how to properly cough into your arm at the elbow, looking pointedly at the woman across from us. “See, like that”, she directed her. I dared a glance over to the other table, gave my best I’m-so-sorry-my-daughter-is-calling-you-out-on-your-poor-coughing-technique look and then verbally apologized as well. Thankfully, the woman was kind and told Madison what a smart girl she was to know the proper way to cover your mouth.
I want to be proud of my little girl for (obviously) listening to me when I’ve instructed her how to keep a cough to herself. At the same time, I certainly don’t want her to think it’s ok to verbally berate perfect strangers in the middle of dinner, or anywhere for that matter. Ah, the great dilemmas of mommy-hood.
Bakerlady 