Friday, April 4, 2008

What kind of hypocrite will I be?

So...for years, one of the all time, most annoying things anyone could say to me was, "You'll understand when you have kids." I'm about to be a dad, and I still hate hearing this. "Oh, you'll understand when the baby gets here." Or, "It's hard to explain, but you'll get it when the baby gets here."



See...to me, it's not like I am all of a sudden going to have a new brain implanted so that I feel differently about everything than I did before I have kids. So, this statement makes no sense.



Anyway, I digress. There are numerous things about children, more specifically, about parents, that annoy the crap out of me.

Let's start with one of the biggest. Babies in the carpool lane. More specifically...one adult combined with one baby in the carpool lane. See, I am a commuter. I commute to work everyday. And...most days I am carpooling. To me, the carpool lane is a way to reward drivers who are taking cars off the road by riding together. So, they get to get into the special lane that gets them to work, or home, faster than the other drivers who drive by themselves. Now, while I agree that 1 adult and 1 infant do indeed make 2 people in one car, it's not like Jr. would be driving himself somewhere without the assistance of his daddy. So...no cars are being taken off the road and it is not a carpool. Therefore, you should not get to use the car pool lane.

Guess what I hear when I voice this complaint to my parent friends? "You'll understand when you have kids."

Add to this babies at movie theatres, babies in church, babies in restaurants, etc. I have always been pretty vocal about parents that bring their children to places where other adults are trying to enjoy themselves without trying to ignore a crying child.

Now...it's almost my turn to find out if it's all true. Will the secret brain fairy come in the middle of the night and snatch my brain replacing it with one that forgets all my past complaints. Or, will I remember how I griped and groaned at all of those that experienced this before me?

I guess I'll understand when I have kids.

1 comment:

random said...

This entry is DEFINATELY my favorite! A couple comments: 1st - I too HATE when people tell me "I'll understand when"...or "You'll see when..." or "It's not the same you won't know until...." Drives me crazy!!

2nd - I believe that if a person is allowed to drive in the carpool lane because of an infant, then I should be able to do the same with my 4-year-old Shih-Tzu! I realize that she's not human but neither one can drive so how is that carpooling?

As for the part about kids in public places.....I've already decided that I won't be bringing any kids of mine to the mall unless I absolutely have to. During Christmas when the mall is open until midnight and is jammed packed with last minute shoppers, why do parents feel it necessary to bring along the entire family, including the stroller that takes up enough walking space for 4 adults? Then they choose a time that is usually way past the kids bedtime so on top of it all the kids are cranky and screaming!

I guess I'll understand when I become a parent!

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