"Children should be seen and not heard" - This is a phrase I really do not like nor agree with, along with a recent couple of instances with my daughter, and across social media, an array of situations where people would overreact to seeing a baby in their presence, or seeing a baby's cry as a hindrance.
Haven't we as parents got enough to worry about apart from what other people think the whole time?
I was in two very different situations only recently, one where my daughter took an almighty tantrum outside a shop, and another where she was sat in a bar/restaurant, not doing anything but giggling across the table at her uncle.
The first situation ended up in comments being made about my daughter's tantrum which was just about in earshot, and the second came the "looks" and comments we didn't quite catch but we knew they were aimed at us all the same.
Luckily for myself and my partner we are both so used to our 2-year-old diva's tantrums and were more annoyed by other people's unnecessary reactions, but what if I was that parent?
That parent that already felt like they had failed, who thought that their young child having a tantrum meant that they were a bad parent, the one that was so embarrassed that they wanted the ground to swallow them up, the one that feels like they can't bring their child anywhere in fear of judgement. Does anyone think about that?
In the second instance, our girl was happy and content sitting at the table with us, after enjoying a lovely meal with my brother and his partner, who we had flown over to visit.
Just as we were about to set off, a group of ladies came in and sat down across from us, and they were clearly unhappy that a child was present. It was 6.30pm, our usual approximate dinner time at home. What was so horrendous about that?
Should we as parents feel the need to leave our children at home every time we want to go somewhere just to please people we don't even know?
Should we just not bring them on holiday and never do family things together to please them all?
I for one am safe to say I'm fully sure this twonager tantrum stage will pass, but also that we will never sacrifice our family time (however hectic) for the pleasure of others.
