Call me sensitive, but when I entered the realm of parenthood I suddenly felt more judged by complete strangers than I ever have done before.
Confronted with an array of decisions including how to feed your baby, how to dress them, how to play with them and later on how to discipline them, everyone seems to have an opinion. These opinions are so very different that it's inevitable that 'observations' are made by others regarding the choices that I make for my own children.
Only last week I was out food shopping with both kiddies (we will be internet shopping from now on) and Lena had decided to sit on the foot plate of our single buggy. When I turned the corner at the bottom of the cereal aisle I did so just that bit too fast. Lena caught her foot on the floor and she promptly, with impressive dramatic force, face planted. This, of course, unfolded in front of a queue of busy lunchtime shoppers at the self-checkout tills. I heard the unanimious intake of breath and felt the silent judgements, not only regarding the incident itself but also on my handling of the aftermath.
To add to this unnerving feeling of constantly being under observation, I stumbled across a website with the sole purpose of shaming 'lazy' parents who still encourage their children to use strollers way beyond the average weight capacity of 15kgs. Bingo! With baby number two on the way, this was perfect timing for my neurotic tendancies. Fearful that Red Head Number One would end up on the front page of said site the decision to buy a double buggy was seriously well considered, and of course Netmums threads well read, and then promptly rejected as an option for our growing family.
