On Other Parents.

Everybody who has children, or pets, or a marriage, or a car, or shoes, knows how irritating it can be to be on the receiving end of unsolicited advice. This can be anything from an innocuous, "Have you heard of/tried/thought about such-and-such store, product, sleep method, book, etc.?" to a passive aggressive "Well, I was always taught that doing things that way would make your child a sissy/mentally unstable/codependent/a vegetarian," to flat-out ignoring the wishes of the parent (and possibly child) by actually touching/feeding/speaking to the baby in a manner that has been expressly forbidden by the parent.

Most of us smile at the first, politely ignore the second (which, interestingly enough, is most common amongst people with no children of their own), and walk away from the third. A greater challenge is to keep ourselves from becoming that which we loathe, by becoming obnoxious founts of unwanted opinions on everything. (Yes, this blog contains both advice and opinions. However, I am not running around shoving it down other parents' throats, and I have tried to ensure that any advice I offer is accompanied by the disclaime that I am not an authority, simply a mum sharing what has and hasn't worked for me. Further to which, it's entirely possible that you came to this blog looking for advice, making it solicited. But I digress.) It means that we have to look away when our friends make parenting choices that we disagree with - because otherwise, we would have no friends who were parents. Let's face it, you and your friends are not going to have the same opinions on feeding, clothing, solids, diapers, toilet training, toys, television, sleeping, or prety much anything else. So don't bother trying to change your friend - share your views if asked, but otherwise, just keep your peace.