Last month, Olivia and I stopped by a local flower shop to pick up some flowers for my mom. It was Mother’s Day and the store was very busy. I realized Olivia was trying to befriend the woman standing behind us as she kept saying, “Hi!” over and over.
I turned my head to the woman and smiled. Olivia, not convinced that the woman could see or hear her, started waving her hands, “Hi!” The woman completely ignored her.
I acknowledged the fact that not everyone wants to humor a toddler (actually, I realized this a long time ago when she would salute everyone down the street and receive dull stares in return), but this woman, not only didn’t acknowledge her, she also gave her a cold stare and rolled her eyes. I couldn’t help but feel insulted and want to protect my daughter from all the mean people in the world like her. Olivia, at her young age, still sees everyone as her equal and as her friend. She looks at every new person she meets with excitement, and anyone who can make her laugh is a good person in her book.
Her perspective is humbling, and it’s the part about having kids that many parents look forward to; seeing the world through a child’s eye.
That is why it’s a punch in the stomach and a blunt reality check to see someone who doesn’t acknowledge and appreciate her naivete. Her cute little innocence bookended by pigtails.
As much as I wanted to confront that woman in the flower shop and tell her she was being rude, I remembered that it was Mother’s Day. Maybe her mother had passed and she was having a tough time like so many do on this day, or maybe she just didn’t like children. It didn’t matter. The real challenge for me was not letting it get to me, for Olivia’s sake. I couldn’t let her think that something like this would ruin our day.
Besides, she really doesn’t know the difference of whether someone is snubbing her or not. That’s the best part of her being so young, everything passes and she doesn’t hold onto anything for too long.
Little things don’t affect her, and as soon as she sees another new face, she’ll try to make a new friend.
