dog park

We've been taking the dogs to the dog park.  They love it of course.  There's a section for small dogs and large dogs and no one's in the small dog section which is great because ours can get a little aggressive.  Yesterday, there was a little girl there, physically she looked to be about 5 or 6, she was big for her age, but her face and mentality put her at 3, maybe pushing 4.  And I wanted to punch her in the face.  For no other reason than she was being a kid and acting her age.  She was in and out of both parks, leaving the gates open to both (Apricot was inches away from escaping), she demanded treats to give to her dog (rather than asking), demanded that we bring one of our dogs over to her dog and put them on the picnic table.  We tried, she tried, they weren't having it.  She got frustrated and mad at us.  Demanded more treats.  She annoyed the hell out of me.  I don't like kids that age.  And I don't like when kids aren't taught manners.  It's not her fault for not knowing that you ask, rather than demand.  But that doesn't mean it's not goddamn annoying, that's why you teach them, so people don't hate your kid.

This is why I need to change my attitude!  Or at least have coping mechanisms in place beforehand.  Because my kid is going to be goddamn annoying and I can't punch it in the face.  Dang it.  I know you can't like your kid all the time, we're not perfect and everyone gets annoying.  I just hope that the annoying times don't last too long because I would hate for my kid to somehow know/figure out that "mom doesn't really like you".  When I told The Husband that I don't like kids that age and my reaction to the little girl, he looked...it was an "oh shit" moment.  Like, "she's got a lot of stuff to work out, if she thought that kid was annoying".  And I hated that look on his face.  Like it was an unacceptable or morally wrong reaction to have.  That's not really fair.  I didn't punch her in the face!  I was nice, I asked her questions, I gave her her treats. I can fake it.  But that doesn't mean I don't feel something other than what I project.  In the future, I'd like to be able to tell him how I feel without that look on his face because that hurt.