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It’s inevitable – as soon as you take your baby outside people have one of three reactions.
1. “Oh what a sweet/cute baby!” This is welcome as long as it is within reasonable limits.
2. Annoyance (thinking: “What’s that baby doing here”), but thankfully this is often not vocalized so I can ignore it.
3. Advice, usually unsolicited and unwanted.
It’s the third one that’s really starting to bother me. Sometimes it is well meaning and presented in a friendly and helpful way, but usually it is accusatory. There is one person who lives near us that seems to think she has a right to give a running commentary on what we do with Evelyn and from the look on her face I think she hates me (or maybe all of us) with a passion. Ok strangers, guess what. I don’t really care what you think. Unless I am doing something patently dangerous or stupid, please hold your tongue. You have no right to interfere and criticize. And if you do see something that you’re genuinely worried about, don’t be hostile … try starting with #1!