Topical Teaching

This afternoon I met a colleague outside her eldest child’s school. She had just picked him up from school and was struggling to get both him and his younger sibling inside the car. Her youngest child was making life very difficult for her by having a temper tantrum by the side of the road.

When she saw me, she apologised for the commotion and looked terribly embarrassed by the behaviour of her screaming 2 year-old. I tried putting her at ease, by explaining that I know what it’s like when young children are hot and tired, but it was no use. The whole ordeal clearly embarrassed my poor colleague.

This got me thinking. Society, women in particular, are so judgemental when it comes to parenting and “proper” parenting styles. They are so good at making a poor young mother feel insecure about a whole range of related issues. Any parent can tell you that tantrums are part of the job description. No matter how good or bad your parenting skills are, your kids are a good bet to have a public tantrum every once in a while.

The same goes for parents that feed their kids the odd candy bar or take them out for fast food once in a while. The needn’t feel judged, but they are.

That is why I would like to start a movement. It’s called the “Mind Your Own Business” movement.

You think I’m too lenient on my child? – Mind Your Own Business!

You object to what I put in my child’s lunchbox? – Mind Your Own Business!

You think I should work less and be home more? – Mind Your Own Business!

What’s that? My child is too young to go to child care? – Mind Your Own Business!

I shouldn’t have given up so easily on breastfeeding my baby? – Mind Your Own Business!

You think I’m an over protective parent? – Mind Your Business!

Parenting is a might hard job. Getting a healthy balance between work and home as well as not being too strict or too lenient is so difficult. People should avoid giving parenting advice unless they are specifically called on to do so. People shouldn’t go around thinking they are better parents than everyone else, because chances are they’re not.

And most of all, people should learn to mind their own bloody business!

Tags: Advice, Breastfeeding, Discipline, Education, Judgemental, Mothers, Nutrition, Parenting, Tantrums, Women

This entry was posted on February 6, 2012 at 11:29 pm and is filed under Parenting. 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.