That Funny Noise You Hear is My Jaw Hitting the Ground

I suspect that being on the receiving end of unsolicited parenting advice is one of the occupational hazards of being, well, a parent. But a couple of incidents recently have left me wondering, "What is up with people?"

On Sunday Kevin was with Liam at the mall. Liam was sitting on one of the coin-operated toddler rides. He loves to climb on them, but he freaks if we turn them on. At any rate, Kevin turned his back for moment, and a woman who had been watching walked up to the ride, inserted three quarters, and turned the ride on. Liam, of course, became all kinds of unhappy and demanded to be removed from the ride. Kevin was left wondering what possessed this woman to do this without even asking him for permission. As he pondered this, the woman got angry herself because Liam didn't want to stay on the ride.

I'm assuming the woman was just trying to do something nice for a small child, but to then become upset when the child doesn't appreciate the gesture? What?

And then, this morning, Liam and I were doing the grocery shopping. I was putting some jars of turkey baby food in the cart when I was stopped by another woman. (For the record, the turkey was for Bobo, our ailing ferret. I mix it in with a prescription pet food to make a high-calorie supplement for him called "duck soup".) She inquired as to Liam's age, and when I told her he is 28 months, she gave me quite the earful about him being much too old for baby food and no wonder he's so thin and has a runny nose. I didn't even bother to explain the baby food. She wasn't listening to anybody else, since clearly she is The World Authority on feeding toddlers.

I can't think of any reason for this lecture. All I want to know is what's with these people?