The thing about opinions

is that they're just that. Opinions. Not commands, not edicts, not even suggestions. But sometimes, when someone offers their opinion a bit too forcefully, it feels like the Spanish Inquisition. For example:

Charlie Brown has this tendency to run away from me at the shops, expecting me to chase her (which of course I do). To her, it's all a big game, and very funny. She's two, and naturally, has no sense of any danger. She's wandered away from the house before, in an across-the-street kind of way, and so I am a bit overprotective now. I see no problem with this at all. I will do whatever I have to do to keep this little one (and Pippa Jane, when the time comes) safe. So I went out and bought one of those nifty harness things for toddlers, that has a strap which attaches to the back. Admittedly, it's not cute - it looks roughly like a dog harness and lead. But the point is, it works. And in all the times we've been shopping with it, she's never run away from me. So I was pretty confident that, despite the initial discomfort with how it appears, I had done the right thing. Until today, that is.

Charlie was a bit tired today, and when she is tired, she gets a bit clumsy. So she tripped a couple of times. Nothing to do with the harness at all, as she does the same thing without it, when she's at home. But I probably wasn't paying as close attention as I normally do, because I was in a hurry to get in the car and get home. So when she tripped and fell (she didn't cry), I tugged the strap a bit (not hard)  because I thought she was just dawdling. When I looked back, and saw that she had fallen, I stopped, made sure she was okay, and went to proceed. But this woman stopped me, and proceeded to read me the riot act about how cruel it was to treat her like a dog, etc. I tried to calmly explain that it was for her own safety, that without this gizmo, she would run away from me, etc. She didn't care. As far as she was concerned, I was the world's most horrible mother. So I simply said that I was sorry she felt that way, and continued on my way. But inside, I was ready to explode. How dare she lecture me on how to raise MY children? Having an opinion is perfectly okay. Opinions are good. But unless you are going to offer me an alternative method of restraining an extremely curious tw0-year-old, then keep it to yourself. Because honestly? I have enough issues with doubting myself, and don't need any help in that department, thankyouverymuch.

But what would you have said? It was painfully obvious that she'd never been shopping solo with an infant and a toddler, so she couldn't know what it is like. But it hurt me. And here's the thing. This one woman, with her thoughtlessness, is the ONLY time that anyone has ever expressed a negative opinion about the use of a harness. Everyone else who's ever even commented has said what a good idea it is.

Questions? Comments? Abuse? Feel free to respond...

XOXO,
Sarah