I was taking a walk with my 5 month old daughter when out of nowhere it started to drizzle. The sky wasn’t even cloudy when I left my house. Or at least I didn’t notice. Either way, I was caught in a down pour without a plastic cover for my stroller. No umbrella. Not even a jacket I could drape over her! I waited under a store awning for awhile but then had to get home because our plumber was coming (that’s another story). I started walking briskly home- as the rain drops landed on my daughter, she didn’t even seem to mind. We got to my building and ran into another mother in my foyer. She gasped, “She’s drenched! What happened? Don’t you have a rain cover for your stroller?” ”Yes”, I told her, “but I didn’t have it with me.” I stepped into the elevator, hoping the doors would close quickly and end our conversation. Her reply, “Why not? You should always have it with you! I always keep mine in the basket underneath. I hope she doesn’t get sick…” and the door shut. This wasn’t the first time this mother had made me feel like I had messed up. But when I looked down at my daughter, she was just smiling. Maybe she likes the rain.

Posted by: samiam, May 4, 2009 in 4:10 pm

I was outside of preschool with my 3-year old and he was upset that we had left his Lightning McQueen sunglasses at home. He was whining, which is kind of unusual. He’s not the biggest whiner. A mother nearby commented, “We don’t allow whining at our house!” I turned to her and said, “Well whining is totally allowed at our house. A matter of fact, we encourage it.” She got the hint.

Posted by: JJfitz, May 14, 2009 in 10:12 pm

If another person tells me that my 3 month old son is crying, I’m going to scream. He has a clogged tear duct and it’s normal for him to tear. He’s not crying he’s tearing. I wipe them away as quickly as I see them but why do strangers on the street have to comment on it!! EVERYONE loves to tell me - people in stores, ladies in the park, even other kids. I just want to scream to the world - I KNOW!

Posted by: Sarah200, May 28, 2009 in 5:53 pm

I was in a bookstore and gave my son (4 yrs old) his juice in a sippy cup. I prefer to still use sippy cups because I can dilute his juice with water and it’s usually less messy than juice boxes. Not to mention environmentally friendly! This mother I didn’t know rolls her eyes at her friend and says, “he’s too old for a sippy cup”. I didn’t even want to get into it with her. People are so rude.

Posted by: Andyliam, June 3, 2009 in 8:06 pm

Gosh, which bad parenting moment shall I choose? First time I ever took my child out of the house, about 3 weeks old, I forgot her bottle AND her pacifier! That child screamed and squalled the whole time we sat in the doctor’s office! The others in the office could tell I was truly a new mom. Their looks didn’t help matters. I was a puddle of sweat and swore to never leave the house again without back up paccy’s in the car! YIKES! Great website and a great motivation for us “normal moms”.

Posted by: Drumoo, June 13, 2009 in 11:37 am

I am on vacation and was out to dinner with family. Dinner went long and by the time we left it was 10:00 pm. My 2-year old had napped on the beach for hours so she was wide awake. On our walk back to our hotel, a women, who we did not know, says, “That baby is too little to be up at this hour!” We just laughed. She persisted, “What time is her bedtime?” My blood began to boil. My husband said, “midnight” and quickly pushed me along - he could tell I was mad!

Posted by: jen, July 3, 2009 in 9:42 am