Friday, July 27, 2007

Moms are Handicapped Too

Recently, when coming out of a handicap stall in a Walmart restroom with Charity in tow, a woman using a cane gave me one of those looks, you know, the one that says "I have a cane, therefore I am handicapped, and I was put out by waiting for you to finish using my stall." Of course, being the civilized, un-confrontational person that I am, I said nothing. But that got me thinking. (Uh Oh, never a good sign).
Aren't we, as mothers to toddlers and infants, handicapped too? Granted, it may be a handicap that we choose, but really, I know that my ability to get around has been seriously compromised since shortly before I gave birth. So I just thought it might be fun to list some of the arguments for giving mothers of young children temporary handicap status.
1. I have a growth that is attached to my leg, arm, hip, neck, back, or wherever it chooses to be throughout the day. This 30 lb attachment severely limits my maneuverability.
2. My hearing is limited by the screams I hear echoing throughout my head whenever I attempt to temporarily remove this growth so that I can catch my breath.
3. Whenever I am successful in removing the child attached to me, my line of sight is drastically reduced to anything that may be in her reach or destructive path. Therefore, I may or may not see oncoming obstacles.
4. When traveling through a parking lot, I have limited use of my appendages, since at least one is dedicated to restraining my little heathen and keeping her out of the path all those people who think its their right to speed through the parking lot like it's a racetrack are just trying to get home.

2 comments:

Heather said...

I totally agree! We have rights to that handicap toilet.

Anonymous said...

Since becoming a mom I've learned that I can't take an umbrella stroller into a regular stall, so I use the bigger stall. Handicap people can kiss my butt. I'm not leaving my infant outside the stall.

Since when does using a cane require a bigger stall. They're meant for wheelchairs aren't they?