What the lady behind me in line at the grocery store said: “Wow, that is a lot of boys!”
What I thought: Wow. I never thought about it, but it does kind of look like all four of them are mine. I mean, the other two boys I’m babysitting are 2 and 4 years old, just like mine, but they’re so much taller that it makes them seem like they’re older.
Geez, what if I wasn’t just babysitting? What if they were all mine? Could I even handle four kids? I doubt it. Having two is exhausting enough. How would I handle four? I mean, we’ve got the bedroom space for them, but it’d be awful. And poor Squid would become a middle child, and he seems like the kind of kid who would really rebel in his teen years if he was a middle child.
Oh, crap, if they were all mine I’d probably have to get a minivan, wouldn’t I? And I’d have to sell my new Scion, and I really like that car.
Oh, crap. She said something, didn’t she? She looks like she’s waiting for a response.
What did she say?
Oh, yeah. She said, “That’s a lot of boys!”
I should say something back.
What do I say in response? If I say “Yeah!” then it makes it sound like they’re all mine, and what if I bump into her for some reason a couple months down the road, and she thinks I have four kids, and prides herself on remembering, and then I have to correct her in front of everyone, and it embarrasses her…
I wonder if she’s just commenting on the amount of boys… or does she really think they’re all mine? Do I look like the kind of person who has four kids? Great. Now I feel old. Who the heck even has four kids in a row like this? I mean, aside from the Duggars. How many do they have now? It’s in the twenties or somethings, I think. Those people are crazy.
Geez. Life with four kids. That would be crazy. It would have to be on purpose, wouldn’t it? I mean, you can’t have four “mistakes” in a row, can you? Sure, I didn’t get pregnant on purpose with my two, but that’s still kind of understandable. Two mistakes is sort of reasonable, although it’s still a little embarrassing. Four mistakes? Heck, once you even hit three “oops” pregnancies, let alone four, that’s not mistakes, that’s just being irresponsible.
Shoot. She’s still looking at me, and I haven’t answered. What do I say? This is getting awkward. Just say something, Becky!
What I replied: Oh, they’re not all mine. Four kids? I’m not that irresponsible!
What my cashier said, in a very cold voice: I have four children.
And now you all know why I’ll be driving to the next town over to do my grocery shopping from now on.
Ouch. I hear ya on this sort of thing, though, in terms of trying to produce a thoughtful response and turning out to sound exactly the opposite. Explaining only makes it worse.
Hey! Great shoes!
Why is your saliva all over them?
Bwahahaha!
Ouch is right. I probably would have pretended she didn’t exist, or I would have been a real smart a$$ and pretended that I couldn’t find my food stamps.
Oh dear. It could only happen to you.
LOL! You certainly have a way with words. 🙂 But that’s why we luvs ya! Enjoy your new grocery store!
I’m not that irresponsible…DHS has taken my two away from me six times!!
Would that have helped?
See, Becky, you’re so quick witted I’m shocked you didn’t respond immediately with the right, self-deprecating (and perhaps true?) answer:
Oh, it’s not irresponsible to have four kids, It would be way irresponsible for ME to have four kids. You’ll understand when you get to know me better.
That’ll shut them up and back them off or they will think you are hilarious, and that’s just the kind of friends you want to cultivate.
Like all of US!
🙂
Oh, the cashier will probably be out on pregnancy leave soon and you will be fine =)