Gossip Gossip, what to do

I have thought about this for several days and I just can't seem to get it out of my head.

You know when someone does something that just lingers and you don't know what to do about it. So since this is where I talk about what is going on in my life, I figured this would be the best place to get it off my chest and ask for advice.

So here it goes.

Yes baseball it over but the words spoken from one of the other moms this past weekend are still stinging today.

At our last practice this mom lashed out about a teacher that Hubs teaches with. This teacher retired and the mom proceeds to explain how glad she is that she will not be there next year and why she was glad. So on and so forth.

I was completely dumbfounded. I had no idea what to say. So I excused myself saying R3 needed a potty break. I loved the teacher she was bashing. I didn't know how to handle the situation I was put into unwillingly, so I just excused myself.

Then this past weekend this same mom started in again on a friend of mine. She wasn't dragging her name through the mud. But she wasn't very nice either. We live in Small Town, Texas. Where everyone knows everyone. Not only that but it seems everyone knows every ones business. I try to stay out of this circle. I don't want to know what is going on with everyone. I have enough trouble keeping me together. I don't need any extra drama.


But I almost lost it, but I just kept shoveling pickle flavored sunflower seeds in my mouth. At one point I looked like a chipmunk.

I really wanted to tell her off. To tell her to keep her mouth shut. To tell her she didn't know who was related to some one or who was friends with some one she was talking about. I wanted to tell her I wasn't out here to gossip but to watch my son play ball. If she would shut her trap and focus on her son instead of what was going in Small Town then maybe we all might get to enjoy the game a little more.

I didn't though. As tempting as it was, I didn't.

I found this verse in my bible when I got home about gossip.

A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. Proverbs 20:18-20

I kept thinking about how it hurt that she was talking about a friend of mine. In the midst of her rant I had already decided I didn't want to be a part of her gossip. So I made it a point to keep my entire focus on R8 and R3 and to keep on eating my sunflower seeds which had now made my tongue raw, just to reinforce my decision.

I had also decided not to even mention the incident to my friend. That would only hurt her and what good would that do. None, absolutely none.

So I am in need of some advice on how to handle her the next time I see her. Which I will be all to soon for my liking. I really just want to get the things I ordered from baseball and leave. But what if she starts on one of rants. What to I do? Run for the hills and never look back? Any advice you could give would be great.

Thanks!