Have you ever walked on the street and heard a stranger call out to you, saying that your toddler should stop sucking her thumb? Or you have that neighbour who constantly gives a lecture about how extended exclusive breastfeeding will affect a child’s development?
Fellow moms, older generation parents, strangers and the whole society always have a thing or two to say about your parenting choices as long as it doesn’t fit their description of a perfect mum. A lot of times these issues are just a by-product of cultural and religious bias, and while it doesn’t happen to everyone, it is too common, can be funny and oh-so-annoying.
I read an article once about things mums all over are usually judged for, and thought to put a Nigerian spin on it. Have a good laugh if any of these has ever happened to you, and remember that your style of parenting is a personal choice. You, not the society, decides what’s best for your family.
- Having more girls than boys
- Not having a son at all
- Having too many kids
- Having just one child
- Married early
- Married late
- Being a stay-at-home Mom
- Having a time-consuming career
- Working from home
- Not spacing your children
- Too much spacing
- Getting pregnant before marriage
- Unplanned pregnancy
- Having a C-Section
- Fat post-baby body
- Using a pacifier
- Wearing a baby on your chest instead of with a wrapper on your back
- Not breastfeeding at all
- Exclusive breastfeeding
- Scheduled feeding, a.k.a not popping a breast in her mouth as soon as she starts crying.
- Breastfeeding a walking toddler
- A thumb-sucking child (If you fed her enough, she wouldn’t suck her thumb)
- Having a skinny child
- Being the home’s breadwinner
- Hate cooking
- Suck at house chores
- Lazy
- Getting a divorce because you were cheated on
- Not getting a divorce from a serial cheater
- Being a single mother by choice
- Not letting your kids watch TV
- Too much TV
- Not having domestic help
- Having a lot of domestic workers
- Being too religious (did you really wear a head scarf for an infant?)
- Too strict
- Homeschooling your kids
- Not immunizing your kids
- Self-confessed sex lover
- Being older than your spouse
- Not taking up your husband’s surname after marriage
- Calling your husband by name
- Spanking your kids
- Not spanking them (That’s why they are such a lawless bunch)
- Feeding your family on takeout food, even if it’s just once.
About the author: Amina Salau is a writer and editor running The Illuminated Pen. You can find her online at www.theilluminatedpen.com and on Twitter (@_Aminah)
