The other day, I was driving in New York City. There was some traffic and I was trying to turn into a street from an avenue. I had to wait for the cars ahead of me to drive, so I was inching forward one foot at a time. Additionally, as I was trying to turn into the street, I had to stop and wait for the pedestrians to cross before I completed my turn. I had waited seemingly a long time before completing my turn, when I saw a mother crossing the street with her son.
I sat at that intersection and was not planning to move until they finished crossing the street. As I sat there waiting, the mother shouted out “Patience, grandma!” I was stunned. First of all, I do not look like the stereotype of a grandma. I have long red hair and I do not look anything like a grandma (not that there is anything wrong with that!) in any way. Second, I was sitting there patiently for an interminable time, with no intention of driving until they had finished crossing the street. Third and perhaps the most important point, is that the mother made a very inappropriate and disrespectful comment in front of her child!
How are children supposed to treat other people with respect if their parent is disrespectful? So…please be careful what social skills you model as a parent when you are trying to teach positive social skills to your children!
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