was walking into the swimming pool complex this evening as I was going to the pool to swim laps. She had something wrong with her legs. The bottom of her legs fanned out and she had two canes which were attached to her wrists to help her walk.

She looked to be about 11=13 years old. Her dad was walking about 15 feet in front of her and her Mom was way ahead of her. I felt a bit sorry for her because walking seemed to be a strenuous activity for her and it seemed as if it would have been better for her parents to be near her.

When I got to the pool I noticed her dad and her mom were at the same pool that I was at, but their daughter was not there. It took a bit but soon she came lumbering through the gate.

The dad immediately gravitated towards her and they had a bit of an argument as to how she was to get in the pool. The dad won and he got her put in the shallow end of the pool. I still didn’t see the mom interact much with her.

I kept watching the family who was clearly engaged in a family reunion because I heard the girl say, “I just want to swim with my cousins.” I watched with critical eyes making sure that she was having a good time but spending quite a lot of time judging the other mom for her lack of involvement.

As I was swimming away from them I got slapped in the face with a thought. “What am I doing? I have three kids who are intelligent, healthy young adults and I have the nerve to judge this family which has been given a handicapped child? What the heck! I am such a hypocrite. I have no right to judge this family. They were not abusing, nor neglecting this child. She was preteen and she was probably wanting to be more independent. She was having a wonderful time with her cousins and all I could do is think mean thoughts about her mother.

So I am wearing the hypocrite badge this evening for judging another mother who has clearly had challenges that may supercede mine as a single mother. It will be up for grabs tomorrow though, anyone want to take it off of my hands?