I am a teacher and I will never judge my parents again.

I have to about it write… I was once a 30-year-old woman who taught preschoolers and did tutoring. One day in the middle of winter in a supermarket, I saw her. She is a woman with a child no more than three years old. The boy was sitting in a shopping cart and swinging his legs. Bare feet. “Lord, what is she only thinking about! What kind of mother is this. I will never be like this, ”I thought, made a condemning face, grabbed some garbage from the shelf and left.

Then there was a beautiful summer night, we were sitting in the same romantic restaurant with my ex, who was not yet an ex at that time. A family was sitting next to us: he, she and a four-year-old girl. She was a miracle, what a child. But very loud. Even my experience of working with preschoolers did not help me to come to terms with her screams. She seemed sweet to everyone, but not to me. She shattered all the romance for which my husband and I went to a restaurant.

“Why do people take kids with them to adult establishments? – I said to my husband. “Would go to a McDuck or a pizzeria. There are also establishments for families with children. I will never do that. “

O complacency of ignorance!

When a mother gagged her crying daughter with candy in front of my eyes, I added another fad to my Ideal Parenting Rules. “She only spoils it,” I thought. “There’s no way to divert the child’s attention, to distract and console the daughter.”

Yes, I knew everything. Theoretically savvy parent. Funny.

“The younger loves to fall asleep with us sometimes. In fact, often. Almost every evening. It is difficult for him to get used to a separate bed, ”the dad of one of my students once told me. Damn, he’s already going to kindergarten. Time to cut the umbilical cord. If I were his mom, I would have kicked him long ago. How do these parents have sex? I would never do that.

I am always – always! – assessed the actions of the parents whom she saw. Is the baby being fed correctly? Do they dress correctly? This is me, a person who has never changed a diaper in my life. What are you, because I knew everything about upbringing, I’m a professional!

Well, that woman in the store, that family in the restaurant, that mom with the candy cane and everything, everything, everything. All I knew about parenting was zilch. Excuse me!

I ended up in the same supermarket again. It was winter, I had my own baby with me. She was wearing a coat over a dress. She was not wearing a hat. An elderly woman who was standing next to the checkout line stroked my daughter’s head and said, “Poor girl. You need a hat. ” Oh lady, you’d better stay out. I wish I could say that I smiled kindly in return. But I really wanted to strangle this madam. I nodded and mumbled something in response so as not to swear.

You see, like many other kids, my daughter hates getting dressed. I tried to put flannel pants and a hat on her. I was ready to pray to all the gods in the world and even Cinderella to boot, if only she would obey. After screaming for half an hour, I gave up. The law of karma has worked.

And then I was in an Italian restaurant, desperately hungry and tired. There was no one with whom I could leave the child. So I took her with me. And what did she do? I climbed into a chair, danced and sang at the limit of volume. Nobody seemed to mind her concert. But I knew perfectly well what people really think. “Gave birth – stay at home.”

How many times have I left my daughter to sleep with me? After all, it is much easier to give her a breast without even waking up than to get up and trudge to her bed. I’m tired, I want to sleep, I’m too lazy. Now she is four years old, she no longer sleeps with me. Instead, she watches cartoons if she wakes up too early for me.

When did we come to the lingerie store with her? She rushed into the distance, trying to pull her bra over her head. And how did she make a brutal grimace at the young people who bent over to tell her how cute she was? And when did she refuse to wear a coat when leaving the restaurant? I had to drag her out into the street naked. It was frosty. I saw how the mistress’s face twisted at that moment.

That is OK. It will pass. And someday she will look stupid in a supermarket, cafe and shopping center. They will look at her judgmental. But not me, no. I will never do that again.