There is nothing worse than a stranger telling you how to raise your children, or even telling you that you're not parenting the right way.
But how would you feel if someone accused you of 'babying' your child too much?
Jaime Primak Sullivan knows how that feels, and it wasn't exactly a moment full of sunshine and roses for the New Jersey mum.
The mum-of-three was attending her sons basketball game, sitting in the bleachers alongside her husband when her boy, Max, was hit in the face with the ball.
Now, how many times have you been hit full force by a ball in the face? It hurts. A lot.
So can you imagine how that may feel to an eight-year-old boy?
Jaime explained: "I saw it happen like it was slow motion. I saw his eyes widen and then squint from the pain - he looked around trying to focus. I knew he was looking for me."
Instinctively, Mum jumped from the bench, heading in her son's direction, knowing he was searching for her, unable to catch his breath as his silent cries began to fall.
They found each other; Jaime embracing her son, while he sobbed and she firmly told him to keep breathing, everything was OK.
Those moments happen quite frequently for mums, from falls in the playground to game day mishaps, but it was the person standing behind Jaime that made her anger fluster.
"You need to stop babying that kid," shouted a voice from behind.
Jaime focused on her son, cleaning his face and wiping his tears before sending him back to his team mates, and rejoining her husband in the stands.
But her anger had her in fits of shaking; "I was so angry. I fussed about it all the way home. My husband blew it off: "Who cares what they think?"
However, it wasn't her mere actions that had her frustrated, it was the notion that boys shouldn't cry, they shouldn't show their feelings, and they definitely shouldn't cry for their mums.
"This notion that boys can never hurt, that they can never feel, is so damaging to them long term. The belief that any signs or gestures of affection will somehow decrease their manhood - this pressure to always 'man up' follows them into adulthood where they struggle to fully experience the broad scope of love and affection."
"They're taught that sadness is weakness, that talking about their fears or short comings makes them less than, [...], they're afraid to cry. It all spills into the way they husband and father and I hate it."
Wanting her son to know that she'll always be there for him, so that he too can practise this exact emotion in time, Jaime adds:
"Love is a verb. It is something you do. It is not the same as babying, coddling or spoiling. It is something my son deserves."
"I will always love him when he is hurting and my prayer for him is that he is always open to receiving love so he can love in return and keep that cycle going."
Is there such thing as babying? Or is Jaime teaching her son a very, very important message about how to love, and how to convey feelings?
