I went to a parade this weekend. After the parade the SO, Z, and I went to a neighbor of their’s house on the parade route for brunch. I met this lady once before. I didn’t like her. I mean that she gave me seriously bad vibes while she was all smiley and happy on the surface. But her words didn’t fit. I figured that I might have caught her on a bad day so I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. No more.

Z came into the kitchen where the adults were gathered and showed this woman how she was combining two unrelated toys to make something new. The lady bent down to her eye level and with a big smile, very sweetly said, “That’s nice, honey. Maybe you can play with it when you go to Colorado. Oh, that’s right, they aren’t taking you with them.”

WTF? The SO and I are planning a vacation in a few months. Z isn’t going. That’s because he is a noncustodial parent and we are going at a time when she will be at her grandparents’ on vacation. She wouldn’t even know that we are gone. Even if it was going to be disruptive to her there is no reason to bring it up months in advance in the middle of a party except to upset her.

Luckily, she was so into the toy that she didn’t pay attention to what this lady said. The SO and I were dumbfounded. He asked why she did that and she smugly announced to the assembled guests that he “claims that he’s honest with his child but obviously he isn’t. Besides, I just think that kids should be included in parental vacations until they are at least 14.” Again, WTF? She knows all the reasons listed above why having that discussion makes no sense but he listed some of them again for her. She didn’t care. She just breezily kept saying that he was going to have to start telling his kid the truth instead of just claiming that he does.

It was the most bizarre thing I’ve seen in a long time. How mean do you have to be to try to make a 4 year old melt down just for the fun of it?