At the mall.

Yet another chilly day, yet another trip to the mall to walk around and window shop. I was carrying Maia in her sling, as usual, and we were looking at trench coats in Macy's when an elderly woman (early 70s, perhaps) commented on how comfy Maia looked. I responded with something like "Yeah, I carry her like this much of the day, except for when she's taking a nap." Then she said, "It looks like you're in Africa! You don't worry about spoiling her?"

Hmm.

My response was short and polite; I said, "No, this really works for us." There were a million other things I would have liked to have said, but I didn't, mainly because I didn't feel like talking about my parenting philosophies with a stranger. To the "Africa" comment I might have said, "Thanks! I think most other cultures in the world have the right idea when it comes to keeping their babies close to them all day." To the "spoiling" comment my response might have been, "No, actually, there's some significant research supporting the idea that babies who spend more time very physically close to their parents as infants grow up to be more independent children."

But whatever. I didn't go there, and I'm glad I didn't. The woman was not at all mean, and she seemed genuinely interested in the sling that I use, but there was still an undercurrent of judgment there that I find fascinating.