Why is is so hard not to judge other parent's choices?
Sitting in the 7th layer of hell, otherwise known as the Chic-Fil-A playground, I was making small talk with another mom. She seemed very nice and we were pleasantly chatting. I mentioned that Allie had her fifteen month shots yesterday and she wasn't quite herself today. The lady replied, "Oh, 'Billy' hasn't had any shots since he was two months old. He had a bad reaction."
What!?! Did she just say her nearly three year old child, who is playing on a public playground, has had no full immunizations? This isn't the flu shot we are talking about, this kid could be carrying measles, mumps or rubella, while my little Allie JUST had these shots yesterday.
I immediately thought, this lady is insane - and a public health hazard. Judge, judge, judge. So...I continue to chat and think maybe that's just her hang up, nobody is perfect. Then she said, "Billy has never taken a bottle. He still nurses."
Here I go again. The kid is three. 3. Drei. Tres. Can you imagine a little parasite leeching from your chest for THREE years! Shoot me now. That kid has teeth. This one really was a judgement. Obviously, this mom cares about her child and breast milk won't HURT him, it's just not a choice I would make.
Would I want this women to look at my overgrown eyebrows and no makeup and make a judgement about me? I would rather she didn't. What about the lady who watched me spank Luke in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot one day? That was classy. (Both the spanking AND being at Piggly Wiggly.)
We judge other parents by how their kids are dressed, how their child acts, how they discipline (or if they don't:-)). I have to constantly remind myself that we are just seeing tiny snapshots of their lives. We have no idea where they came from or where they are going.
At any given time, I could be found doing something that probably wouldn't earn a nomination for mother of the year, so I am going to keep trying to have an open mind. Just don't sit your disease carrying child next to me or whip out your 'teet-teet' (as a three year old might ask for it) at Chic-Fil-A.
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