she says i'm doing a good job with my kids

i was yelling at my kids, i guess loudly enough for her to hear, telling them they had to stick to a budget as we bought last minute chanukah gifts for The Cousins. maddy was yelling back at me. on one hand mad about the budget on the other telling me (correctly) i never have the guts or srength to stick to one. and i'm sure we talked about her wanting a Blackberry and how sick that made me. (her dad got her one for the last night of Hannukah which pissed me off, put the fake pleather jacket i got her H&M to the bottom of the ho hum gift food chain) anyway, this little short woman with the velvet scarf chimed in that i was Right. I was Good. she was that type of little withered apple-faced woman who's a hybrid homeless. she could indeed be living on the margins or she could be a famous filmaker. she said she was a nurse. and she empathized wholeheartedly and just HAD to speak up (comrade in arms) about what an uphill battle it is to raise good teenagers. and what a good job i was doing. my kids stopped dead in their tracks and smiled from their hearts at her which made me forgive them for being spoiled brats because of course it's not their collective fault that they want blackberries and gold Marc Jacobs bags and Randy Rhodes guitars and too many games for the Wii. its' mine of course. i'm inconsistent and confused. and obviously it's a kids job to push the limits and a mom's job to set em. and god help us if i'm the designated driver.......