Alright fellow new parents… topic of the day is JUDGEMENT. Yes, that age-old pesky fellow that just won’t let you live. Sometimes it can come from friends, family that means well, or strangers who don’t mean well at all. It hurts your feelings, makes you angry and tends to make your defenses fly up immediately. Why do you think that is?
From my perspective I have felt the effects of judgement from various sources and it does not feel good no matter who it is coming from. Most of the time anger is my response followed by a good helping of defensiveness and a death glare that could make a flower wilt on sight. It is not a good feeling to have, period. But what is the root of my reaction and maybe even yours too?
Honestly I think it may be because we care… yeah that’s it. We love our babies, we do our best to figure out routines and what different cries mean. We dig our way through all the different ques and fuss. We end up feeling pretty good about our progress until someone comes behind us and sucks the wind out of our sails. Usually with questions we do not want to answer. “Why did you do that, that way”, “Why didn’t you do this”, “That’s not right”…. the list goes on and on. We feel defensive because, hey, we though we had it under control and were doing pretty good.
My answer to this issue, don’t let the questions bother you. Unless it’s coming from a total stranger or you just have jerk relatives, more than likely whoever is asking is doing so because they care about your kid just like you do. I have found these questions come from my parents most of the time. I love them, they love me and they love my kid. But keep in mind, they want to help, not harm. If showing you how to burrito wrap your baby tighter is what they want to do, let them. Most of the time, it’s all for your benefit.
Keep your head up friends. We’re awesome people, raising awesome people.
God bless.
Baby Disciples 
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