I'm really not a yeller...

We went to the Miesau pool today. I had my 3 kids, plus my niece, Jana, plus we invited another family that has a 2 year old little girl that I'll refer to as Z. Z is quite the swimmer and fearless. It was my turn to watch her and I was having a blast until I got blasted...in the face with a water gun. I saw the boy who did it, gave him a look, and thought that would be the end of it. He shot me again, in my face. Had he been shooting me anywhere else, I would've ignored him. Instead, we moved away and tried to ignore him, at which point he (and I was watching) aimed at my face and got it again. I'm not one to overreact, so I just said loudly across the water, "Schtop," which obviously means "stop." He shot me in my face again. I would've just left the area, except that I had a 2 year old who was swimming underwater in the only place that she could at this particular pool, and she was using me to maintain her balance when she did come up. I couldn't see her when he was repeatedly hitting me in the face. So, after that 4th or 5th time, and after not schtopping when I said to, I walked over, put my hand on the gun, and stop, "Du Kanst nicht mir beschutzen in mein Geschict." You can not shoot me in my face." I said this while holding said 2 year old by her waist, dangling, rearing to get back in and swim. She was just happy to be with me, so she didn't really know why I was talking to the boy, but she didn't care.

We went back to swimming, a few yards farther away. Lo and behold, the little boy, furthermore referred to as Snot-head, shot me in my face AGAIN! At this point, I started coming at him. Yes, I was going to take his gun. Yes, I'm pretty sure he knew I meant business. The dangling legs of Z and the look on my face, I'm sure, said it all. I said, "Wo sind die Eltern?" (Where are your parents.) Guess what? They were the two adults standing RIGHT THERE watching him. So, I told him, with his parents standing not 1 foot away and looking at me, in my best German, "You have to stop shooting me in my face. I have a baby and I need to watch her. Stop shooting me in my face." Yes, I said it very firmly. No, I did not yell at him. At this point you would think the parents might tell aforementioned Snot-head, who was around 7 or 8 years old, to stop shooting the lady in her face. Nope.

The mother YELLED at me, "WHY are you telling MY SON to stop? Take your BABY to the BABY POOL!" This was also in German, so I am very thankful for our tutoring. I don't know what would happen had I not been able to communicate with her so effectively, which I preceded to do. I said, in my best German, "My baby can swim here with me and your son WILL STOP SHOOTING ME IN MY FACE." Yes, I yelled the last part. I'm not proud, but I did. Then I stood there and stared at her.

Obviously this was a case of a very misinformed mother. She thought her son was meant to rule the world with his water gun and someone had to set her straight. Needless to say, I won the stare-off competition. Ask my kids. I'm good at those. I walked away, and the precious 2 year old and I went back to our swimming. I must mention that in the midst of me yelling back at the German lady, the 2 year old's mother came over to make sure I was okay. She has never seen me anything other than calm and was quite concerned that someone had riled me up enough to get me over there to yell, while holding little Z dangling by her waist. I assured her, and her husband who had also joined her, that all was well. Then I looked at both German parents. I can't tell you what my face said. I know they both walked away and I am not a big girl and I don't pretend to be tough. I'm not. At that point, though, my blood was approaching the boiling point and I'm sure they sensed it enough to walk away. I'm sure having Z's parents there to reinforce me helped tremendously. They are good people. Z's Mom actually said to me, "I saw you walk over there and point, and I thought, 'whoa, this can't be good.' Somebody's got Tori MAD." We laughed about it later. I'm thankful he didn't shoot the 2 year old in the face. I may have taken his gun and shot him back. I can't promise that I wouldn't have done that. I have a temper. It is only by the grace of God alone that I don't do more stupid things when I lose control of it. I did apologize to my friends and Chloe, who saw me and actually said, "Mommy, I've NEVER seen you do that. That boy deserved it, though." I told Chloe that I shouldn't have yelled back, that I should have stayed calm and that I was sorry that I yelled at the lady. Unfortunately, I was not a big enough person to apologize to the mom. Maybe one day I will be. Not today. My landlord's daughter was there. She thinks the lady is crazy. She even made the hand sign for loco. It's no small comfort. I behaved badly by yelling and no one should do that.

The moral of the story is this. Snot-head went down the slide a few minutes later and got hurt. He shouldn't have been shooting me in my face. Some people call it karma, some people call it the vengeance of the Lord. I call it justice served. I shouldn't have yelled back. I should've stayed calm. I apologize and if the situation repeats itself, I'll handle it much better.