This afternoon, Super Girl had an epic tantrum in the checkout line at the craft store. I got to the register and let the checkout girl know I had to put something back while she was ringing up. I then returned every craft SG had picked out. While she kept screaming over and over, "I want it!" with tears running down her face, I explained to her (over and over, it seemed) that the deal was she would get treats if she was good in the store. Throwing a temper tantrum is exactly one of the behaviors I told my girls would forfeit their goodies. 

Just when I was starting to feel like a failure, standing there at the cash register with this two-year old screaming at the top of the lungs, three women came up to me and told me "Good job!" for sticking to my guns and not rewarding bad behavior. Instantly, I felt better. 

It's easy to feel like a meanie or a bad mom when your kid melts down in public. The things is, though, eventually every kid will melt down [first person to tell me her kid has never melted down gets punched in the face]. And, though I might feel mean in the minute, rewarding my (then-)behaved child with crafts while the other looks on on jealousy, I just have to keep reminding myself that my "meanness" is toward a greater good—raising a child/tween/teen/adult who is not an ungrateful, spoiled asshole. 

I am so thankful for those ladies today who gave me reinforcement and reminded me that I was doing the right thing. And it also served as a good reminder to me that the next time I see a mom struggling but doing the right thing, to pay it forward by patting her on the back—whether I do that literally (as the first "Good job, Mom!" woman did to me today) or verbally. Because sometimes all you need is validation. 

Macklemore and his fake social activism is more tiresome than the people defending him as "the best hip-hop anything, ever… even though we've never actually listened to hip-hop." But the more his old tweets surface, the more sketchy and inconsistent his claims of dependency and recovery become, the more he tries to claim this loving relationship with Kendrick Lamar, and the less Mary Lambert gets acknowledged for her major contribution to his success, the harder it gets for me to stick with my original thoughts of "I LOVE this guy! I just think there are certainly better hip-hop artists who are actually hip-hop, rather than hip-pop."

I mean, these 2009 tweets of his are real and verified [not that anyone was trying to pretend to be Macklemore in 2009 anyway]:

Stewie: You know Matthew, I may never get another chance to say this so I just want to get this off my chest.
You are just awful, you're one of the worst actors in the history of film and I think you need to just go away
Matthew Mcconaughey: Oh thanks man, the truth is I spend at least 90% of my year going away, exploring exotic places, having sex with my beautiful girlfriend, just doing sit-ups, I mean that really... and then counting money.
The money that I made off my terrible films I put out into the American populous because they just love to see me doing what it is that I do.
Stewie: Yes but you're not hearing me... 'Dazed and Confused' was the one thing that was passable after that...
Matthew Mcconaughey: Oh thanks man that actually launched my career
Stewie: After that, everything else was awful, 'Contact' They didn't even need you in that movie, they could have done the whole movie without you
Matthew Mcconaughey: I know, I know I said the same thing, but they were just like - Oh we need a good looking guy with a great ass and some tight abs to provide some down home enthusiasm to this picture. Something to counter balance Jodie Foster, they took her to be slightly cold, uh unapproachable so they put me in there.
I said it didn't make any sense. Said the same thing about that Bill Murray elephant movie but they said well the audience needs you.
Stewie: You make me physically sick to my stomach and I wish you that would get a heart attack.
Matthew Mcconaughey: I totally feel you man, the truth of the matter is I don't like my movies either but man they keep offering me money and I do it and I get to around the world, I mean did you see 'Sahara'. I'll tell you what that movie gave me, was the opportunity to take an Airstream all across the country and sell that picture one person at a time.
Stewie: You suck donkey ass
Matthew Mcconaughey: Hey you can't prove that