I was doing a Mommy assisted event at my son's school and I ended up with one of those moments where you wish you could have done better. Here is what happened
Other Mom: Hi, I am X
Me: Hi, I'm __. Nice to meet you blah, blah, blah
Other Mom: Which child is yours?
Me: Oh, my child BB other there in the green. Which child is yours?
Other Mom: Oh, my daughter is little X.
Me: I don't know the girls. Which one is she?
Other Mom: Oh, there she is, over there in the red hat.
Me: Oh.
Now, the child she pointed to is of another race. Her father might be of that race or she might be adopted. I had one of those moments where I drew a blank. Maybe in my mind, I was ready to comment something like "She looks like you" or something like that. Instead I drew a blank and felt like a jerk. Sigh.
What should I have said? I suck at small talk.
3 comments:
I guess you coould comment on what she was doing, or whetehr or not she seemd to be enjoying herself etc.
I had the same experience - I met a couple who were white and their child was a beautiful African-American girl. Obviously she was a different race, but there was some chance she could have been the child of one of the couple from a previous marriage somehow. I didn't think I could bring up the issue of her being adopted myself, but I wanted to break the ice and hear about her adoption because I love those kind of stories. I could not figure out how to do it. So I just kept remarking on how beautiful she was. I wish there was a way to say "hey, what a beautiful child, where / how did you get her?" without being annoying.
"She's pretty!"
"How old is she?"
"Where did you find her hat?"
"How do you get her to keep her hat on?"
Now it would seem like I would have said plenty, except I had a bit to think about it w/o pressure. I suck at small talk, too.
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