Really?

At the risk of sounding completely redundant, I am so mad and furious and just completely shocked by what happened today. Addie went to the eye doctor to have her tear duct stent removed. Both of the kids did so unbelievably well at the appointment that we decided to go out for lunch. After we ate, Tyler and Addie were playing in the indoor playground. A mother, who was about my age, came in with her kids. She kindly asked how old Addie was and when I told her that she would be 20 months old in a few days, she was very surprised and turned away very quickly. The Mom kept watching Addie as she tried to climb the stairs to reach her brother, a task that she could easily do if I had not been afraid of some crazy kid knocking her down. As we played as we normally do, the Mom and the Dad of the family kept staring at us (Addie and I), not like, "Oh, she is so cute", but what I would call a "shit face". Then they actually proceeded to not allow either of their children near us. Umm... What? Do we have the plague or something?

I was bubbling with anger and thought of a million things I could have said. I, of course said nothing. I am sitting here still shocked and angry, but most of all sad. Sad for Addie, sad for those people who will never know that Addie is just like their kids and sad for their kids that saw their despicable example. I know this is not how the world views my daughter, but I also know that this is not the first or last time this will happen. Maybe I will start wearing a sign ... "Yes, she has Down Syndrome and no, your kids will not catch it". Some people.