Nicole in D.C.

Kids do the darnedest things on the Metro. I ride it every day yet would never think to do the things they do: twirling around on the railings, pretending to surf, memorizing all the stops on Red Line, and even sitting on the floor.

Most of the time I only notice the bad kids. I’m, admittedly, one of those people that isn’t even close to having kids, yet I think I know how my kids would behave in that situation. When I take a step back and realize I’m criticizing a stranger, I feel guilty.

Then, I think about it a little more. Would I call my son Gigi Wolfboy on a crowded subway car? Would I allow him to go up to people and sniff them and growl at people who backed away? No. I wouldn’t. And, yes, that’s an assumption I can make without having children.

Occasionally, I wrestle with the feelings of wanting to yell at their parents for letting them do the things they do at inappropriate times and wanting to get up and join them because I’ve never had that much fun on the metro and I’ve probably ridden it more than a thousand times.

Tonight, I saw the most well-behaved children I’ve ever seen on the metro. One girl was sitting on the floor because the train was empty, but had the appropriate impulse to get up and find a seat when it started to get crowded. They were having a polite conversation, holding on to the railings without letting go, and talking to their mother in a normal voice. Yes, they were all siblings and they didn’t hate each other and they weren’t yelling or doing anything obnoxious. They were so good, I almost wanted them to do something bad so I remembered they were kids again.