Oh the fun of parenting in public: unwanted assvice, a first

Posted on Dec 28 in parenting, personal storiesby PrintText Resizer Text Resizer

It happen for the first time today… Some stranger actually had the gall to come after me and try telling me how to care for my child. It was as we walked in Dillards, from the car. I had Everly wrapped in a blanket, in leggings, long sleeved onesie and a corduroy dress, with socks on of course… and WRAPPED all up in a blanket.

We were headed in the mall to make an exchange and it was only like twenty feet from the car to the store doors. This lady walking behind us starts shouting something from behind us. We ignore it assuming she’s talking to a friend or something. People here are always shouting at each other or to themselves, it’s best to just ignore it.

Anyway, this lady continues shouting as she runs up behind me. She then taps me on the shoulder while announcing “I’m meddling…” a few more times. I replied “Uh-uh” as I braced myself for the unwanted advice.

She tells me “next time cover her head when you’re outside, it’s so cold!” Well, thanks Captain Obvious, don’t know what I would do without your stellar assvice! I was a good girl though. All I said was “yeah… Okay.” Then I turned and walked away.

OMFG lady! Don’t you think I know it is cold outside? The thing is my baby doesn’t like her head covered. She fights those beanies and when I am walking such a short distance I am not going to throw a blanket over my girls head. She does like to see what is going on around her like the rest of us. She was wrapped in a blanket for crying out loud and I was keeping her very close and covered. Geeze!

Plus, we looked at hats and mittens for babies before the holidays and they were outrageously priced and didn’t fit her!

So yeah, got my first unwanted “assvice” from a complete stranger today. We also had the pleasure of dealing with pissy moms at the mall play center. We stopped in to use the built-in changing table thingy (to avoid having to change E in the bathroom like last time). Problem was this huge ass double stroller was parked in front of the changing table.

N very politely rolled the stroller a few inches away from the changing area so I could lay E down and change her. The stroller’s owner didn’t like this though and wrenched it from his hand and relocated it while scowling at us. She then proceeded to sit back on her ass and scowl like all the other parents sitting there watching their kids play.

Why do parents always look so mad at those play yard things anyway? I’ve read some horrible stories about encounters at play yards thanks to other blogging mamas… I don’t think we’ll be frequenting those if we can help it.

So, the item we went to return never got returned because the returns line was like a mile long. We did poke our heads in to a kids clothes store and scored several screaming deals, all winter weather essentials for Everly. Yep, even some cute hats and gloves. Meddling lady would be so proud!

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Entry Details: This entry was posted on Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 10:56 pm, by Talina, and is filed under parenting, personal stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Print This!
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Becky

Ugh. I really can't stand those Stepford playground mommies. They irritate the crap out of me. If I encounter one I usually go for the "smile at them goofy" defense.....sometimes it makes them leave ;-)

I've learned to just smile and nod me head when some random stranger tries to give me assvice about something. I just don't feel like wasting my energy on them.
.-= Becky´s last blog ..Attack of the 8 Legged Albino =-.

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Talina

Ha, ha! That is a good way of putting it, "stepford playground mommies". So right on.

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N

Oh the joys! I couldn't believe that Mom giving me the third degree for moving her semi-truck of a stroller out of the way. Why would you just dump it in front of the changing table to begin with? Oh, because no one else could possibly need to use it but you? I see.

You're a good Mommy and the "meddlers" just don't know the day to day operations of our child. We'll just grin and nod for the next 20 or so years :-)
.-= N´s last blog ..Organic food contest =-.

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teeni

Kudos to you for keeping your cool. I'm sure that in her own mind that the woman thought you couldn't live without her helpful advice. Maybe she has seen lots of young moms who don't really know how to parent and you DO look young which I'm sure can be a pain at times when it isn't a blessing. LOL. Anyway, I'm thinking that this won't be the only time you get unwanted and unrequested advice so it's good to keep a level head. The people who know you are not concerned at all for your child's well being because they KNOW you have her best interests at heart. The other people - well, let's just say they just want to hear themselves talk. ;) Hi and hugs to you and Everly!

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Mitzi

i made some returns to the mall on sunday and had no problems. i bet saturday was a bitch.
.-= Mitzi´s last blog ..Christmas Past =-.

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Donna B.

It is now that you learn to ignore, and then laugh at, supremely stupid people. Once upon a time, I wanted to yell at the mother who let her toddler wear "Barbie play high heels" to the grocery store shortly after Christmas. Fortunately, I was able to overcome this. Of course the dear child's feet were cold. But was she in danger of frostbite or pneumonia? Nope. This mother had most likely carefully calibrated the danger of letting her daughter wear those shoes the entire minute it took to get inside the heated store and decided it was not a problem.

At least not a problem compared to NOT letting the child wear them. One minute of not too harmful exposure vs. a 1/2 hour tantrum? Not a difficult choice. Not to mention the fact that on the next outing, the mother has the weapon of "do you want your feet to get that cold again?"

Everly is not old enough yet to be subjected to the kind of lesson I'm talking about above... but you are. There's no way in the world that I think you'd subject your child to anything harmful to her. That's just not your style... ya know?

So, it's not too soon for you to establish yourself as competent parents to the outside world and tell "them" to mind their own business.

As for mall playgrounds, as a grandmother I'm quite fond of them. They have seats for grownups :-)
.-= Donna B.´s last blog ..Not Recommended, As Well As Highly Recommended =-.

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