I’m a mum-of-two under 2 – rude stranger judged my parenting but I had perfect response, everyone’s saying same thing
A MUM was left speechless after a rude stranger judged her parenting at an indoor play area.
TikTok user Katie (@dr.katie.h) boasts more than 200,000 followers and regularly lifts the lid on life with two children under the age of two.
In a recent clip, the emergency doctor was enjoying some quality family time with her husband and children – 18-month-old Amelia and newborn tot Alexander – before they were interrupted by another parent.
The critical stranger repeatedly called out Katie because little Amelia was trying to climb on a table.
Katie – who lives in Australia but is originally from Scotland – said she was “in shock” over the incident and left the premises immediately.
The mum of two pointed out she had already been trying to keep her daughter’s feet firmly on the ground, and did not need input from the other mum.
And social media users have hailed her perfect response to the rude parent after she spoke out about the ordeal on social media.
In a short clip, Katie said: “This is the first time that another person has commented on my child’s behaviour and I was just really taken aback by it.
“We decided to get out of the house. My husband and I took my 18-month-old little girl Amelia and little three-week-old Alexander here to this indoor play place. We go there about once a week.
“We’d been there for about 10 minutes. My husband’s holding the baby and I’m playing with Amelia at this little low down table with trains and train tracks on it.
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“After a few minutes she starts trying to lift her leg up onto the table.
“I don’t know if she was trying to reach a train on the other side of the table or if she was just trying to climb on the table because she’s 18-months-old and that’s what toddlers do.
“So I’m standing right beside her and I immediately say to her ‘no Amelia, we don’t climb on tables, down you come’ and I pop her back down onto the ground.
“She tries to do it again, straight away and I say ‘no, no not onto the table’ and lift her back down onto the ground.
“In that exact moment a lady comes over to me. From earlier I could see she was there with what looked like a three-year-old boy.
“She comes over to me and says ‘could you please not let your child climb on the table because my child might see it and think it’s ok to climb on tables’.
“It was so bizarre. It was almost like she didn’t see me clearly trying to redirect my child to not climb on the table.
“I think I was initially in a bit of shock. I didn’t say anything immediately.”
But the stranger would not let the issue go, making Katie feel forced to respond.
She added: “She said it again, because Amelia was still trying to climb on the table and I was still trying to lift her back down onto the ground.
“In the heat of the moment I just said to her ‘well if you don’t want your child to copy what my child is doing then maybe you should take your child somewhere else?’.
“Again, she said ‘oh that’s just really bad, you shouldn’t let her climb on tables.’
“I was like wow. Anyway, here’s where I get really petty.
“So I turn around and her three-year-old is climbing on the sofa with his shoes on.
“And I said to her ‘maybe you should ask your child not to climb on sofas with shoes on because my child might see it and think it’s ok to climb on sofas with shoes on’.
“Anyway, she then said something like ‘don’t be so offended’.
“I was raging and obviously really triggered so we just left straight away.
“I was really proud of myself that I didn’t burst out crying in front of her or in the car on the way home with my husband with all of the emotions I’ve got going around just now.
“I didn’t feel good after that. I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
“I’m sure something like this is going to happen to me again in the future.
“I’m just wondering how I could have handled it differently? My husband thinks I shouldn’t have responded at all.
“I don’t enjoy confrontation but I don’t think I have it in my bones to just ignore someone like this.”
Katie’s video has racked up more than 700k views in just four days and everyone is firmly on her side.
One said: “You SHOULD feel good! That was perfect!”
A second gushed: “She just wanted to be petty and start a fight. I think you were fine, you stood up for yourself and matched her energy!”
And a third added: “I think you handled that perfectly. Don’t beat yourself up over it
“She’s way out of line!! I’m sorry you felt like you had to leave! I hope you don’t find yourself in that again.”
Meanwhile, other mums admitted they wouldn’t have been able to resist cheekier responses.
One said: “[I would have] told her that she shouldn’t talk to strangers as it might make her son talk to strangers and walked away.”
Another insisted: “LOL I would have said ‘That sounds like a you problem’.”