The takeaway: It's best to never assume or offer unsolicited advice.
Hopefully you haven't been on the receiving-end of judgement from a complete stranger, but, if you have, maybe these parents' stories will arm you for any future encounters.
While not something most of us would ever do, it's not completely uncommon for a passer-by to stick their nose in where it doesn't belong.
This has the ability to knock your confidence as a parent or guardian, and can often stay with you long after they've said their bit.
However, these people did decided not to let some self-declared parenting experts walk away without giving them their own two-cents first.
One parent who was visiting the doctors office (of all places) with her 15-month-old twins when she was the victim of some unsolicited parenting advice.
Taking to
Reddit, they explained that their daughters do not take well to being cooped up in a stroller but also couldn't be trusted to wander as they have a tendency to bolt in opposite directions.
So, the stroller it was.
After preparing for any possible scenario, they loaded up the nappy-bag with an 'endless' supply of snacks and sippy cups to keep them entertained for the sanity of others in the waiting room.
However, it was five minutes in before all hell broke loose, so the snacks were enlisted and they began pacing with their babies to calm them down.
"I am at the back area and not even close to being in anyones way and as long as I am pacing the beasties will quietly munch away on their cheerios," they wrote.
This is when a 'cranky old lady' lady decided she needed to say something after she failed to hear the doctors 'mumble' of another patients name.
The elderly woman turned to the twins parent and said: "Oh my gawd you have got to stop walking up and down that back area. You're making me dizzy. Also you really shouldn't be feeding them that much, just SIT DOWN and they will relax too. Watching toddlers really shouldn't be that hard hun."
Little did she know, she was about to rue to day she got involved.
The poster was at the doctors awaiting results from a cancer screening (which, thankfully, came back clear).
That, combined with the stress of trying to keep her little ones occupied and some rude unrequested parenting advice, meant they were taking no prisoners.
"I take her advice and sit down. Right next to her. Tons of empty seats everywhere by the way. Instantly they start screaming their heads off and what do I do? I pull out my book and start reading," she wrote.
"Anyone who has ever been seated next to a strangers baby having a meltdown, close your eyes, imagine that sh***y moment and now double it to account for twins," they continued.
Within five minutes, the elderly lady was looking like 'she is about to snap' and suggests to the parent that the twins might want a snack, to which the poster replied: "Nah, I really shouldn't be feeding them that much," and continued reading her book.
Savage.
When the twins' parent's name was finally called in to see the doctor, they said the woman 'looks like she is ready to give up on life.'
Concluding the post, the parent wrote: "I however have read my first chapter in ages. I guess watching toddlers really isn't that hard after all."
Talk about learning a lesson the hard way.
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Credit: Getty[/caption]
Another user took to the replies of the thread to share that the age difference between them and their sibling has outed and shamed a few parent shamers out in the wild.
The posted explained that they are the oldest of five kids, with their youngest sister being 13 years their junior.
One day, when shopping in Walmart with their now ex-girlfriend, when their little sister was five years old, they were confronted by an assuming woman.
"Old lady came up started in on not being married, child out of wedlock, were too young to be responsible etc. She said father and mother, lil sis looked confused and from the honest mouth of a child said 'that's my brother'," they wrote.
"I've never seen someone turn red so fast. We ran into her a couple times while shopping she always left the aisle immediately."
Passing judgement on a stranger for how you perceive their family dynamic really just isn't worth it.
A fellow parent of twins shared their support and said they felt their 'pain' when these situations occur.
They offered some advice in this department.
"Usually I just ignore all the people but for the truly rude ones like her I like to calmly introduce myself and then very curiously ask which of my bills they were paying," they shared.
"Usually I'll get a very strange look and an answer along the lines of they don't. My response is that until they do they don't get to tell me how to run my household."
Pretty solid advice.
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