Hellobee Boards

@MrsBucky: I think there are ways to say something like that without being confrontational. There's a lot of difference between "watch out, I think your cart is tipping!" and "get your child out of the cart, it's not safe, what are you even thinking?"

@catgirl: holy crap. I am SO glad 911 was called. That is beyond.

@Calibee: This happened to me too. An older woman told me he needed to be covered and I said, actually he needs the sun. Then she tried to physically move the sunshade to cover him and I said excuse me, please don't touch the stroller and she then SHE acted all offended like I was rude.

@thepaperbutterfly: I understand this one too. My son looks totally neurotypical but has some sensory stuff that causes him to act out or melt down in certain situations. I have also gotten to a place where if someone makes a comment or two they now get a very long explanation about how he was born early and my water ruptured expectantly and how sensory processing disorder works and what we are working on in occupational therapy. They typically regret engaging with me. (I only do this to rude people)

Hugs dear, very interesting topic... I am so sorry it happened to you. I would be livid too Just think that this old man probably had a lot of advices to offer her own children and no one listened to him. He is probably having a bad time and in a way he took it out on you. I hope you feel better thinking about that...

For me I did have a similar experience but the stranger was not as legitimately wrong as your case (although it felt like she was really out of line at the moment). We were at a restaurant. DS was somewhere between 8-11 months old back then. I brought some solids with us and was feeding DS when we were waiting for our food. It was homemade rice porridge with a bit of mushrooms in it. DS had mushrooms before, he'd turn a little red but then would quickly subside. He was never sick or anything. I didn't give him mushrooms often, but I did space it out and offer maybe once every few weeks. (and he totally outgrew the color change after he turned 1)

DH and I was having an argument at the moment. The argument included DH accusing me of not doing the best job as a mother. I think I was sobbing. Apparently DS was eating and he turned a bit red. There was a middle-aged woman sitting by herself on another table. She noticed DS turning a little flushed after he ate, and she came over to alert us that she noticed there was an allergic reaction to my baby and wanted to bring it to my attention. Oh boy. On one hand my DH was saying I was dropping the ball as a mother, I was crying, then this stranger walked up to me to alert me in case I didn't realize my child could be in danger of allergy / food poisoning, as if I were truly useless, incapable and blind. I was LIVID. I didn't say anything to the woman, and she kinda walked away as we completely ignored her. I gave her a dirty stare the whole meal, and she didn't dare to look up.

Thinking back, I guess I can see why she was concerned. If DH and I wasn't fighting, I would have thanked her and let her know we have tried this exact food before, this all has happened before multiple times, and reassure her that DS was fine, and we'll keep a close eye on him. It was very bad timing. And although I feel bad, I do still think she overstepped a bit -- if you could see my DS turning red from a table away (it actually was very subtle, so she had to be staring at DS for a long while), do you think I couldn't see it right in front of me? I still felt like I was publicly slapped by a complete stranger after 5 years.