Bad food; worse parenting

I've been doing some more blog slacking. [All apologies, inserted here]

Anyway, today I went to a pot luck. I think this was my first play date in with the group in a few weeks. Although my little hiatus was brought on by illness, I can't say that I didn't enjoy it. I love going to play dates (most of the time), but a mom can only do so many.

So anywho, today was pot luck day. We all know how the past ones have went. Going to these things is always like a game of culinary Russian roulette. I'm not even sure I'd call the experience "culinary" most of the time. These ladies are stay at home moms, and that does not always have anything to do with their domestic prowess in the kitchen. Today's, however, wasn't that bad. The food, for the most part, was palatable. Not everything was amazing, but it was edible -- which is more than I can say of the last pot luck I attended. I took some Apple Chicken Bites, which we all ended up affectionately referring to as Chicken Balls. They were actually very good. I'd never made the recipe before, but was pleasantly surprised. I mean, you can't go wrong with a fried meatball type thing, right? [Well, actually...] I also took a towering plate of PB&Js because I wasn't sure how much kid friendly fare would be showing up.

The worst dish award, I have to say, goes to the attempt at green bean casserole. It was mushy and the only distinguishing aspect between the green beans and the other ingredients was the color. The french fried onions on top were equally as soggy...and to top it off, the lady brought it in a crock pot. Come to think of it, the last dish she brought to a pot luck was in the very same crock pot. The contents of the pot last time were equally as horrific...but possibly worse. Last time she attempted some sort of creamed spinach and cheese crap. Gross. And I'm using crap affectionately. I really think this lady should just stick to picking something ready made up from somewhere. I mean, you choose your battles...and her cooking skills are not winning.

Even more than the bad green bean casserole rubbed me the wrong way was how I noticed one of the moms acting. It's not like this is out of the ordinary behavior for her. I've noticed it before -- at every single play date she attends...I just don't think I've ever blogged about it before. She has a little girl who is under a year old and a little boy that's four-ish. He is a holy terror. Constantly. My first encounter with him was a few months back when she first joined the group. We were at a playground and he pestered me the entire time to pay attention to him. I should have known something was up then. Since that first play date, I've noticed how he acts out toward other children and toward his mom. Today she couldn't even get him to put his own shoes on to leave. And he refused to stand up to walk out the door. At play dates he generally runs a muck and she seems oblivious. Here's why:

She's so busy doting on her daughter, that she rarely even takes the time to check and see what he's doing. Today I watched as she sat at the kitchen table baby talking and feeding her daughter while her son sat across the room eating. She had her back turned to him the entire time. She plays with her daughter and shows her what I think is almost entirely too much attention while her son is climbing the walls to get even a little bit of attention. It's obvious to me that the reason he acts that way is because he is starving for some affection...even the negative type. To add insult to injury, she's pregnant. So just imagine how horrible his behavior will become after the new little sweetie is born. I hope she gets a wake up call pretty soon and starts showing all of her children equal amounts of affection.

I know her son is from a previous relationship, and judging by her age, most likely a high school aged one. I can only hope that her neglect of him is not stemming from some sort of resentment issue...although I'm sure it is. I just don't understand how a mother -- or any parent -- could show such clear cut favoritism toward one or more of her children. I had to keep shoving my foot in my mouth today. I wanted to scream at her to pay attention to her son too. I guess I'll just keep my thoughts to myself.