It happened yesterday.
I mean, it more than likely happens on a daily basis, but it happened out loud yesterday, in the back seat of my car, in my presence.
JUDGING.
Yesterday, I drove several of my coworkers to lunch. So I had to yank out both ginormous carseats and stuff them in the trunk, then I had to shove massive quantities of toys and other kiddo paraphernalia under the seats. As we’re edging our way out of the parking lot I hear and ‘ewwwwwwwww’ coming from my rear seat.
One of my coworkers had found the elusive dropped bottle of milk. A dropped bottle of milk that was half full, and which had been in my back seat turning into cottage cheese since last weekend on our ride home from my parent’s house.
So I’m in the middle of forming a huge apology to come gushing out of my mouth, something along the lines of, ‘OMG I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I missed that when I cleaned out {‘cleaned’, right} the back seat after the trip…’ when my coworker says:
‘Tottums, whose bottle is this??’
Um, whose do you think? The baby’s.
‘The baby? Isn’t he like 14 months old?’
Um, 15 months actually? …
‘And you’re still letting him have a bottle? Oh no you need to cut that crap out.’
Um, okay? I mean, he doesn’t have them all the time, but he did scream for most of the way home and a bottle was the only way we could get him to relax and not continuously yell at us for five hours straight. It’s how I regained a little of my FARKING SANITY in the car with two children under the age of four!
‘No, you need to be giving that boy a sippy cup, he doesn’t need a bottle anymore.’
::crickets::
I love my coworkers, but sometimes, I wonder if their statements actually run through their brains before they open their mouths.
Anybody else been the victim of a driveby judging lately?
It hasn’t happened to me lately, but I remember when my oldest was three (6 years ago!) and we had to change pediatricians because we moved. The first time my daughter walked in still sucking on a paci, that doctor gave me a look that pierced my soul a little!
Oh boy, I wonder what they would say about my 2.5 year old still getting 2 bottles a day!! lol , These people like you to think they are so perfect, I’d love to see what goes on in their homes behide closed doors!! (this post just reminded me we too have a gross bottle under the seat, gotta go run to get it now lol)
Jill @ Momma Totally in Love
My 19 month old son still has a bottle twice a day… he loves it, and I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s nice to have a sure way to soothe him if needed (like for a long car ride!). Shame on them for judging!
ugh! Parenting is a world so full of valuable “gems” like that….lol….my first kid was EASY to get off the bottle, but I see a struggle ahead with my 10 month old. Sometimes I wonder if some people are missing their filters!!
You mean to tell me you went to all the trouble of REMOVING CARSEATS only to have to REPLACE THEM later, and she found anything to say other than THANK YOU? Gah.
LOL. Did I mention she’s a mom too?
Lol fun times in your car, never fails!
Ugh, nothing like another mom to make you feel like crap! That’s horrible! I hate when people have to voice their dumb opinions like that! Sorry, friend. You give him that bottle for as long as you need to. It’s all about what works best for YOU and YOUR BABY! Ugh, I can’t stand rude people!
One, you are very gracious to offer to drive when having to remove car seats. If more than one person wants to ride with me at work, I cannot drive b/c I refuse to take those things in and out. They’re a bitch, and call me selfish.
Second, one of my co-workers judged when I said I was still BF’ing at almost 18 months. BUT, she’s not a mom and I didn’t feel attacked or anything b/c they turned it into a big joke, which I can appreciate. Third, if anyone seriously said something like that to me, rest assured I would have had my 2 cents about it. 
My biggest take away: You removed your car seats just to transport other people? And then had to put them back right after? I would never do that
.
(From the mother of a 22 mth. old who still breastfeeds and uses a pacifier for more than just sleeping – we’re all allowed a few things that we may not feel are ideal, but make life much easier now, right?)