Unsolicited advice NOT needed.

I went to the mall today with my friend Alie who was visiting from San Francisco. We took Sophia with us who did really well the first half of the time we were there. Then proceeded to be a bear the rest of the time. If that kid does not get a good nap - there is hell to pay. The problem is that she does not nap for very long in carrier and her short "recharges" only last so long.

Those of you with children understand how stressful it can be to be out and about with a screaming child. You are parenting for the whole, judgemental world to see - or so it feels like. Sophia was fine if I took her out of the stroller. The problem is - she needs to learn to be fine in the stroller so I was trying to sooth her while leaving her in it. Finally, I had to just let her cry because the reality of it was - she was dead tired and would not fall asleep if I picked her up.

Aside: Let me just say that when I was single, childless, and had nothing but childless friends I used to be one of those judgemental people who would think, "that baby needs to be at home", when I would see a mommy struggling with a crying baby out in public. I guess this is karma biting me in the ass, huh? Now I understand. Now I so totally understand.

Back to me, with my crying daughter standing outside of CVS waiting for my friend to emerge. As I stood there just slightly rocking the stroller back and forth (had to do something) this old lady comes right up to me and says, "She probably has a gas. You should burp her." Hmmm. Well, if looks could kill - this lady would have dropped flat where she was standing when I told her, "she does not have gas." Well, it was probably closer to: She. Does. NOT. Have. Gas.

THE NERVE. Yeah, thats what my mood needed. Unsolicitated parenting advice from a perfect stranger. It also took balls. The last thing one wants to do is get in the path of a frustrated mother when they are looking for someone to strangle. What is it about some women and their short term memories. Why don't they remember what it was to be the mother of a newborn?!

A few minutes later Sophia fell asleep in the car and slept the whole way home. Sweet relief.