"That" Mom

After Music Together, I joined a friend over at Tulio's for lunch today. They have 'slammin' sandwiches (to use a term my husband likes). She has a son about six weeks younger than Ellie. We've gotten together several times since our children have been born, yet I've never witnessed him having any kind of mini-meltdown or being the least bit difficult. While he slept quietly in his infant seat, Ellie continued to bang on the table, eat the paper place mats, smash saltine crackers everywhere, and try to snatch everything within a three foot radius of her. I actually kind of find it cute, but she's definitely not as easy to take to restaurants as she used to be. As we were leaving, I looked around the table where we had been sitting at the destroyed paper products, smashed crackers, napkins I had used to wipe her runny nose, and realized that I had become "that mom." I was completely in my own world and too involved in conversation with my friend to notice that I was oblivious to my behavior. That is so not okay! I used to work at a restaurant in college (as a hostess because I could never quite graduate to waitress status) and I remember how annoyed everyone would get at "those moms." They would leave broken crayons, food all over the floor, spilled drinks, etc. I had become one of them. The horror! If my child is only seven months old, it can only get worse. From now on, I promise to police my area before I leave and clean up any mess my child has created. This is my pledge. If this isn't possible for one reason or another, I promise to leave an extra generous tip at the least. How did I let this happen?