Photo: Catherine Myman Kaplan

Ah unwanted but good intentioned advice, the bane of every parents’ existence. From the family member who lets you know that in her day children were much better behaved than they are now to the random parent at the park who launches into the evils of prepackaged food when he notices you hand your child a snack, everyone seems to know how to parent your child better. 

It is challenging enough to navigate the ups and downs of parenting without feeling like you’re not only doing your child some irreparable harm by letting them start school without taking a first day photo next to a customized chalkboard or nagging them to just brush their teeth for the love of everything holy without somehow disappointing the well-meaning stranger on the airplane. 

Sometimes it takes every bit of will-power not to offer a snarky response or to growl that you are doing the very best you can. And in the end, that is all any of can do. The very best we can. No matter what the lady at the grocery store thinks.

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