Starting a new thread so as not to hijack Ephelidasa's. It seems like there are a lot of issues around how other parents react to our kids.
On the one hand, we have to remember that other parents' overriding concern is their own child. The girl who was bullying Hanni? I've known and loved her since she was a baby, but I actually found myself thinking, "So this is how it feels to want to kill a four year old." That girl's own issues and challenges were a distant, distant speck on the horizon in my mental landscape. Our children need support and advocacy and allies, but the parents of other children (who are being affected by our children) are not neccessarily the place to find that.
On the other hand, there are all kinds of attitudes that go way beyond the bounds of the parent putting their own child first, and enter the realm of intrusiveness and offensiveness.
One area I get this is single parenting. "It must be
so hard being a single mom! I just don't know how you
do it!" To which I want to reply, "It must be
so hard being married to your husband! How do you manage it at the same time that you're raising children?"
I also get invasive comments about Hanni's extreme attachment. I have one friend who is convinced that it's
because I co-sleep with her. The co-sleeping thing has bugged this mom ever since she moved her own daughter to a separate bed, and she doesn't miss a chance to hint that Hanni would be better off in her own bed. Sheesh!
And that's not even starting on the comments we all get about smartness, quirkiness, grade-skips, hot-housing, private schooling, homeschooling . . .
