Drive by in my heart

I'm sure I've committed at least a few inadvertent drive-bys—saying something that the other person thought was a drive by, even if I hadn’t meant it to be. But I’m pretty sure I haven’t purposely made a drive by comment.

This past week, however, I’ve committed a few drive bys in my heart (to borrow an expression from Jimmy Carter.)

Let’s see, there was . . .

—the mother who thought the threat of sleeping outside the house was an appropriate possible punishment for a six year old.

—the mother who brought her two year old to preschool wearing high-heeled mules (on the kid, not the mother. And the heels were only an inch or so, but the kid is 2!!)

—the mother whose excessive use of baby talk made my skin crawl.

And probably a few others.

I try to be open-minded about most parenting issues, and even when I disagree, I usually know enough to keep my mouth shut. I try to follow a "whatever works for your family" philosophy.

But I've been tempted to speak up more in this past week than I can ever remember having been tempted before.

So far, so good, but I fear someone will be submitting a story about me soon—and if they do, I will post it.

How about you? Have you ever wanted to make a drive by comment? Were you able to stop yourself? If so, how? If not, why did you speak up? How did you feel afterward?