A woman on a playground starts to talk to my child and give directives.

I told her with a nice, but firm voice to instead of talking to my child she can talk to me as I was standing right there.

she became very aggressive and started calling me stupid.

To which I responded, “ok, I am what can I do about it.”

She got extremely mad. She started calling me crazy.

I’m standing there in awe of this woman. She was the most reactive person I’ve ever seen.

I’ve remained calm. I’m not gonna lie I imagined using all my krav maga moves on her, but it wouldn’t have been a great example for my son.

I knew it was a great moment to show my son what I’m teaching him in action.

I always tell him to be responsive rather than reactive. But sometimes there is no point in talking to someone.

“In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change,” said Thich Nhat Hanh.

I would add to it in true dialogue both sides are willing to listen.

I realized I wasn’t heard nor was I going to be heard so I stayed silent.

Obviously, her energy affected me. If I wasn’t on my period I would have been more mentally tough. It would have still affected me, but way less than it did at that moment.

She had such strong negative energy, the way she didn’t stop talking and kept going. It drained me a little.

But at least now when I tell my son that it only matters what we think about ourselves, I can give him and remind him of real-life examples.

And it works. Showing our children what to do instead of telling them.

This incident happened a few months back.

And yesterday my son came to me and told me that in preschool he was told that he has a big nose. At the age of 5, he told me he didn’t believe them because he knows it was not true.

I was proud of him.

I was also proud of myself.

Sometimes I need these moments of reassurance. To see that all my effort and hard work is worth it.

Oftentimes I teach him, show him, and nothing. It seems like he doesn’t even care. Then suddenly it clicks in his mind and I see the results which help me keep going.

I was reminded again that sometimes for my own peace and well-being it’s better not to say anything at all.

Only talk when you know you are going to be heard.

Also, I did say something to this woman.

When we left the playground Maxime was walking in front of me passionately sharing something. I knew he wasn’t going to hear so I turned my head to this woman and quietly told her “You really are a bitch.”

To which she said, “You are even worse”.

What can I say she didn’t even deny it.

She too knew she was a bitch.

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