New York Mom|The Mama Bird Diaries

09 Mar

can’t we all be nice?

Have you ever noticed that some people are nice.

And some people are not.

Take this broken window for example. (Trust me, I’m working my way back to the nice thing.)

Because of heavy winds in New York City, construction debris from next door has been flying off the building and well, smashing into my lobby. And onto my neighbors’ terraces. And onto my street.

Sort of a safety problem, as you can imagine.

So New York City firefighters and police officers have closed down our entire block plus the West Side Highway while contractors fix the situation. Let me pause for a moment…

and just reflect on dreamy firefighters….

just hanging around on my stoop.

How sexy are firefighters? Here’s the mathematical proof:

guy + firefighter gear + protecting me from flying construction debris = sexy.

So anyway, the whole situation means long, inconvenient waits to get in and out of my building. The not-so-nice people are really pissed off. They are giving ~~my boyfriends~~ the firefighters a really hard time.

The nice people are grateful that someone is keeping heavy, life-shortening wooden planks and other potentially death-inducing materials from falling on their heads. I must say, I am in this second camp.

Here’s another example.

Not nice: Today a woman saw 15 month-old Summer walking and said to my husband, “You better keep your eye on her. You don’t want her to grow up walking with her legs turned out like that. No lady, no matter how nicely she dresses, looks good walking with her legs spread out.”

Did she just call my baby a slut?

Ok, truth is Summer does walk like she has a big load in her pants. But maybe we should cut the little lady some slack since… umm… she’s been walking for a month.

See, that woman is not nice.

Nice: On Saturday, I was trying to change Summer at the airport and she was so hysterical that legs were flying and poop was precariously close to going in all kinds of unintended directions. A stranger stepped out of the ladies’ line and helped me hold Summer so I could clean and change her.

That is very nice.

Not Nice: Last night, someone anonymously posted a nasty, disrespectful comment on my site, accusing me of being a whiner, and raising my children to be whiners and there was more but I’m not even going into it. I deleted the comment but that kind of unexpected cruelty can be hard to immediately shake.

Nice: All the incredibly supportive, funny, real comments that are posted on this site that make me feel like a normal mama (who can simultaneously love her children madly and wish they would just go away for a few hours) and not some crazed, incompetent, lunatic mummy.

Alright. I gotta go see if those steamy firefighters outside need anything.

You know, I’m just trying to be nice and all.

mama bird notes
Beauty girl Alex is taking a good look into her make-up bag and tossing the products that contain unwanted chemicals. You, too, will want to be in the know. Click on drooling over this for the scoop on products that could be detrimental to your health.

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Comments

March 9, 2008 @ 10:15 pm, by Jennifer H

Yeah, I’m going to need the address for where the firemen are hanging out. (I’m in denial about the fact that I’m in AZ)

You should have said, “Oh, like you?” to the mean lady talking about your toddler’s walk. Seriously.

I prefer nice people, too. I’m pretty sure you’re among them.
March 9, 2008 @ 10:21 pm, by Portia

LOL…just as I was reading this the 11 oclock news came on talking about exatly what you are writing about! Funny.

I simply cannot believe that that lady said what she said about Summer…was she under the influence? Sounds like a street person to me…
sorry if that statement is “not nice” but if she’s nt she certainly acted like it with that statement…

As for your firefighters…I concur. I am an ER/ Trauma Nurse and whenever they come into my trauma room…I run to their attention! Just being as nice as possible of course.
March 9, 2008 @ 10:31 pm, by rachel

If some cowardly person chooses to post anonymous comments on this otherwise peaceful and compassion-filled site, so be it. We will collectively try to look past her intentionally hurtful remarks and chalk it up to the bitterness that grows when one has no friend’s strong shoulders on which to lean or ears to listen when the going gets tough. Shake it off Kelc, ther will always be haters among us. Bitch is ‘yella’ (yellow)
March 9, 2008 @ 10:34 pm, by Janna

I’ve always appreciated MIS (men in suits) & MIU (men in uniforms…including firemen… and Marines of course). For my birthday present, my parents watched Abby for a day and a half. It was priceless! I think a little alone time makes everyone nicer.
March 9, 2008 @ 10:46 pm, by Abby Siegel

I’m always rendered speechless when people say really mean things. However, the other day I was skiing in Vail and I literally was bulldozed from behind by a guy going way too fast. He ran me over,damaged my face (no broken nose thank god) and asked if I was ok. I took the VIP bus to Crazytown and said NO you mother f***** and a lot of other names. Was I nice? No! But this guy deserved my wrath. I ended up at the hospital and the doctor was nice, so the lesson is be mean to those beyotches who are just miserable to begin with and love the guys and gals who can fix the problems!!! BTW I got a lot of sweet meds out of it so it could have been worse. Hang in there and get one of the hot fireman’s digits for me. Ha ha.
March 9, 2008 @ 11:41 pm, by flutter

I am fairly sure your kid ain’t no hooker.

Just sayin’.
March 10, 2008 @ 12:14 am, by Jane @ What About Mom?

great post! made me laugh, made me sigh (i never cry, puh-lease) and then made me vow to be a better person myself.

you’re better than church!

i love moms who know you can love your kids to pieces. TO PIECES. and want to be on the other side of the world from them at the same time.

keep it up, mamabird!
March 10, 2008 @ 1:51 am, by Everyday Yogini

Kelcey, I am always shocked at how mean people can be. And I, too, puffy heart firefighters. Thank you for the early morning chuckle and pics of the firefighters!
March 10, 2008 @ 2:44 am, by suburbancorrespondent

Ooh, yeah – firefighters rock! They’re just so…capable…looking. Yes, that’s it – capable.

You don’t whine. I whine, though. I hope that commenter doesn’t find my blog!
March 10, 2008 @ 7:11 am, by Jacki

Why is it some people (that you don’t even know) feel they have to tell you how to raise your child?

When Emma was not even a year old we were at a grocery store and this woman came up and got really close to Emma and started talking to her. Emma didn’t know who she was, so she got scared and started crying. The woman got mad, looked at me and said something to the effect “you need to get her used to strangers.”

Oh yes, we LOVE fire-fighters here, too. This past Christmas we had to call some over because we were having some problems with our fireplace….Emma and I were having fun watching them. I didnt even notice that about 10 fire-fighters were running around our house in muddy boots. Emma kept saying “they are big.”

When do you whine?
March 10, 2008 @ 7:50 am, by Erin

Thank goodness those firefighters have you to look (stare) after them>
March 10, 2008 @ 8:18 am, by Bitsy

I’ve never met you, but I’ve been enjoying you’re blog for several months now (shout out to Wendi’s friend Tara, my bff, for turning me on to it!) Your clever writing makes me laugh and remember when my kids were little. The anonymous poster has mistaken your sarcastic wit and your ability to see the humor in nearly every situation for whining. You never whine. Ignore that poor, sad, bitter, cold-hearted person. As we say here in the south, “Bless her heart”. That’s code for she’s Not Nice, but maybe she can’t help it.
March 10, 2008 @ 8:54 am, by Married to a firefighter

As dreamy as the fire gear is, once it comes off he is still the guy who “forgets” that there is a whole sink full of dishes and garbage that needs to go out:)
p.s. Don’t pay attention to the nasty comments! Your blog makes me feel normal everytime I read it! Keep up the good work!
March 10, 2008 @ 9:00 am, by Laura

I love the comment above! Every time I run into a BEE-YATCH, and believe me there are way too many here in NYC, I’m going to look her in the eye and as condescendingly as possible say, “Bless Your Heart.”
March 10, 2008 @ 10:14 am, by The Mom Bomb

Oh, those NYC firefighters. What’s up with that? Our firefighters aren’t nearly as cute in the ‘burbs.

As for rude people, I always like to freak them out. Like after that mean bee-yatch made that ridiculous remark about your daughter, I would’ve said: “I totally agree!” Then I would have walked around her with my legs splayed wide.
March 10, 2008 @ 10:42 am, by sarah

I walked by the firemen on Saturday night and said to my friend “there is something so sexy about firemen – even if they are not particularly hot- the whole package just works” and it does! It is fun to use the kids as my excuse to wave as they go by and or even better to talk to them
I try to get my girls to ask them a few questions whenever possible!
March 10, 2008 @ 10:57 am, by Buffy

Firemen, cops, mmmmmm–they are some of my favorite flavors…
I personally am, like, your #1 fan (not as in stalker-type). Unfortunately, the world is full of a$$monkeys. I like to apologize to them for their handicap of being born without manners.

Your girls are beautiful, your blog is intelligent and real, and it takes a special person to be willing to share her ups and downs with the world. I will kick that mean person’s butt if you want
March 10, 2008 @ 11:41 am, by Daphne

It must be a sign of your success, to warrant a nasty post by some jealous freak who only wants to tear you down. Sadly since we moved west I fear that I am the meanest mama around…
March 10, 2008 @ 11:48 am, by Robin

I am the Co-President of my daughter’s school PTO. Can you even believe that, Kelc? Anyway, you can imagine we get a lot of complaints and nastiness thrown our way for doing everything totally WRONG. We always like to say “Why do people have to be like that? I hate ‘people’.” But, from now on, I’m going to say “Bless her heart.” I love that.

Some people just have diarrhea of the mouth, and we should just ask God to bless them with a cure.

I’ve never heard you whine in the 23 years since I met you.
March 10, 2008 @ 12:25 pm, by misty

Yes- sexy…
Yes- Stupid not nice people.
Yes- you should tell the noble firefighters about the stupid woman’s comment about your beautiful baby girl. They could hit her with the hose, make her catch debris or something.
March 10, 2008 @ 12:34 pm, by mp

I try to always be nice..it actually makes you feel good about yourself.

You can be ugly as sin..but put on that firefighter uniform and hmmmm
March 10, 2008 @ 12:45 pm, by Buffy

BTW–if you’re brassy enough to post a nasty comment, be a real woman and don’t do it anonymously—that is chicken sh*t, dog barf.
March 10, 2008 @ 1:32 pm, by Erin

I think it’s a SIGN that you have really made it in the blogging word when the haters come out to comment!! It’s like the paparazzi of blogging!! KK- we all love you and your fabulous witty stories that you so generously share with us every day- making us all feeling a little more normal and not so alone in this crazy mama world…so don’t sweat it for a second… and seriously you are FAR from whiny…but really, it’s your blog and you can whine if you want to :-}
March 10, 2008 @ 1:33 pm, by Erin

oh, that should have said “blogging world” …I blame the baby (even though she is napping)
:-}
March 10, 2008 @ 1:44 pm, by Tully's Mama

Nice: being asked to be sister’s matron of honor & get to wear cute “orange peel” J Crew dress.
Not Nice: J Crew not making clothes for the post-partum clientele.
Nice: believing although child is now 2, I am still post-partum.
Not Nice: J Crew models that will still look that way when they are really post-partum.
March 10, 2008 @ 2:01 pm, by wa

Oh, I’ve hated Anonymous ever since she called me a “retarted riter” and said that I was raising my kids badly because all I do is complain. But the thing is, she harasses everyone.

And the kindness of strangers when you’re with your children is always cause for amazement, isn’t it?
March 10, 2008 @ 2:20 pm, by Buffy

Hey wa–how does one become re-tarted? That sounds like something I could get into. Anonymous is mental…hahaha
March 10, 2008 @ 4:16 pm, by Linda at 2nd Cup

Loved your post. I have had my feelings hurt by a comment before, and then I thought–wait a minute–how could I possibly care about this? Uh, it still hurt. It’s fun to read about living on the East Coast. Your blog is intelligent and entertaining! Come by and join me in a 2nd cup of coffee some time … in Indiana.
March 10, 2008 @ 4:56 pm, by kerry

kelce-you rock. love you for your wit, passion, realism and heartfelt insights. note to anonymous commenter who apparently never whines: use your ‘positive non-whining’ energy to offer up something NICE.
March 10, 2008 @ 5:27 pm, by Marie

The only time I got nasty comments like that (so far, hehe) was when I wrote about the dying tradition of sending Christmas cards. You would not believe how nasty people got about it! I left the nasty comments though, so everyone could see them, and my regular commenters came out of the woodwork to back me up. The original offenders (there were several) ended up deleting them themselves, LOL!
March 10, 2008 @ 6:52 pm, by shay

Really?! What in the world are people thinking to say mean things to you…about your child?!
I had an old man ask the name of my brand new first born infant. (keep in mind i was trying to find something anything that would fit over my newly minted boobs and tummy at the time so I was a tad emotional anyway!)
When I said “Levi” he asked me why I would name my baby after jeans and why didn’t I name him William or something? HUH?!
I still can’t believe it really happened.

Sorry about the nasty people! YAY about the firefighters (and yummy!)
March 10, 2008 @ 8:57 pm, by Breeze

Ahhh, I’m sorry someone was mean to you. I completely get the loving them but still loving when they leave for a while thing. I blogged about it just this afternoon.
March 10, 2008 @ 10:02 pm, by Shannon (Cole Mine)

Even my father the math teacher could not dispute that equation!!

What is it with mean people? They like to make themselves look bad on other people’s blogs I guess…Must be jealous.

Thanks for making me AND my husband laugh with your post!
March 11, 2008 @ 1:31 pm, by Madmad

Oh, I don’t even know where to start… I guess from the back: anyone calling YOU a whiner, hasn’t visited me, hahahaha! You don’t whine – and anyway, heck if you wanna whine who has the right to say you can’t? They can just click away. That’s the whole point of the blog thing. Just. go. away. if you don’t like it, right? So blow her right off and don’t even think about it. She’s just jealous you’re so pretty. and live in NYC. With cute firefighters on your stoop.

Oh, and I burst out laughing about the lady “calling your daughter a slut”. There’s always the churchill route: Yeah, braces will fix her legs, but how will you fix those wrinkles?
March 11, 2008 @ 1:36 pm, by Madmad

OK, seriously, I went through all the posts – very funny, btw (and aren’t those diapers fun after sand consumption? I remember those days!) Anyway, what whining could she be talking about?
March 11, 2008 @ 5:06 pm, by Mamafabulosity

I don’t think you’re whiny at all, but if you were then it would be completely understandable. All moms have the right to whine now and then. After all, we have to listen to the whining all day. P.S. those firefighters =yummm
March 11, 2008 @ 8:15 pm, by magpie

and i know that those firemen were happy to see you!!
March 11, 2008 @ 8:25 pm, by Milena

I never thought I’d see the day when I’d wish I too could live in NYC so flying debris would come crashing through my window. The photos of the firemen you posted had me thinking sizzling, if clichéd thoughts.

The lady who commented cattily on Summer’s walk had me thinking some thoughts too, the slugging kind.

Your anonymous commenter: that person just had me thinking some nothing kind of thoughts. That is what the her kind of commenting amounts to.

The kindness of helpful strangers: all my good karma is beaming out to those in the world who rise unbidden to remedy a situation. All my blessing kind of thoughts be upon them.

Lastly, this is your space. In it you can do as you please. Territorial kinds of thoughts as you can see. They are the most defining ones of all.
March 11, 2008 @ 9:55 pm, by the mamabird diaries

[...] judging from everyone’s comments on my previous post, apparently I’m not the only one with firefighter lust. How much action must these guys get? [...]
March 11, 2008 @ 10:43 pm, by Cat

Sadly somehow I missed this post, however, had I seen it I would have been right over (from CA).
March 13, 2008 @ 6:05 pm, by Tommy-Tom

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Your sidewalk commentator is fearful that Summer’s stride will attract the E. Spitzers of the world? Oh, dear. . . As one who has observed it firsthand, Miss Summer’s walking style is priceless to behold. That your sidewalk commentator was unable to see the beauty of a child’s first, unsteady steps is verrrrrrrrrry sad.
March 16, 2008 @ 9:14 pm, by Auntie T

Let ME have a TALK with Miss Nasty about our beautiful Miss Summer and your nasty commentOR!!!! Oh and the Fire Fighters, too! But I have very different things to say to them! Ps. Next time you have a chance to chat, they LOVE to talk about their FF equipment, like the “piece”!

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