to have bust my judgeometer upon seeing this?

[thequimreaper]

In Primark today. 2 girls with their mum - one looked slightly older than my DD and one slightly younger so I assume they were around 3 1/2 and 2 1/2. Both walking around with dummies in (not that this is that strange I'm just setting the scene), both with pierced ears (which I hate but I know some people think is fine). They were both dressed in just a sleepsuit (thin popper style). The younger one's sleepsuit was about a foot too long and she was tripping up with every step - it was also filthy as it had been trailing the floor ans she had no shoes on. The older girl didn't have this problem as the mother had chosen to team her sleepsuit with a pair of pink, glittery high heels

Hilarious wotnochocs

Also, I'm with Headlessladybiscuit - whatever DO you say?? We all of us judge things we see, all the time. Anyone who says they don't is either a.) a Lying Git or b)someone who has never actually met or interacted with any other humans EVER.

Sounds to me like the Mum may have locked herself out of the house while doing the school run for older children?

Diziet, the snooty cows might never take their dc's out in PJs but did any of their children get an award?

at chipmonkey thankyou!! He ended up getting two in the end, I was lucky, I normally clear off early if I can, but I stayed 'cos DS2 was being cute-naughty (eg running down the front and shouting "GAGAGA!!!" (he has a BIG speech delay!)at top of cute toddler voice etc and clapping at everything) as opposed to evil little bastard naughty .
So DS1 got two awards that day (both for maths!) and I got to be proud and embarrassed at the same time!!
Which is funny-that's kind of how I feel most of the time about my DC, actually !

Bugger, lost track of me brackets there... time for bed!!

Oooh two awards - and having the confidence to run down the front shouting. A lot of mums would give their eye teeth [hwink]

DS2 isn't confident - he just doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks!! He's a pain in the arse quite frankly - but at the same time I do hope he keeps that attitude (he's the little anarchist in my photos). I like the idea of having a militant in the family, he can take over when DH is too old to do nothing except wave his walking stick at the TV! [hgrin]

oooh he is gorgeously squidgy :) I think anarchism is hugely undervalued tbh :o

I'm with the crisis situation I think.

Once upon a time I had to take a 1 1/2yr old girl out of her house at 3am because her mum and step-dad where completely pissed up and just about to beat the shit out of each other. Little girl in her cot screaming.

I didn't think of picking anything up for her, I just grabbed her and walked out, told my friend I'd drop her back when I was co fident she was going to be safe. Little girl was in pj's and sleeping bag.

The next day my partner and I had to take her to sainsbury's to buy her an outfit for the day until her mum or grandma came to pick her up.

Goodness knows what people thought of us traipsing round the supermarket at lunch time with a little girl in pj's.

The one with slightly less crazy hair is DS1, although the pics are from a few years ago.
Yes, I wonder if we'll be seeing some of that Anarchism business in the near future. I do hope so.
But hey! We're digressing. And I'm supposed to be off to bed!! You lot are a Bad Influence on a nice girl like me.
OP, YANBU. So there! [hgrin] Goodnight!!

Oo, Pixie, what an awful situation! But well done to you for having the presence of mind to get the little girl out of there.

Fiftot, thesecondcoming, babyheave

I'm so relieved to see that it's not only me that's irked by the competitive non-judging. I am becoming increasingly bothered by it. If judging was truly out of order, then a lot of MN would be defunct. What emerges is that there's a whole subtle art to judging and the circumstances in which it is and isn't OK. What disturbs me most is that it seems to be OK when it's about stuff that frankly doesn't matter - e.g. the 'do you have twigs in your house?' a thread that I for one found far less amusing than it was claimed to be - but it's not OK when it's about stuff that actually affects kids' welfare, e.g. them being dragged around in dirty pjs and no coats on a cold day! Why the hell are twigs in a jar a crime, but kids being potentially neglected, and certainly not treated kindly, is only to be seen in the most positive possible light? Eh?

I concede that, as always, there may be a kinder explanation rooted in the woman having rushed out to escape a crisis of some sort. But it's not necessarily the case, and I dislike the notion that we must only ever think the absolute best of things that may actual be harmful for kids.

I'm going to call this more often when I see it now, as it's been bugging me for a while.

OP - Yanbu.

So rather than posting a snide comment on a website, why didn't the op try to strike up a conversation with the woman. I agree we all secretly judge but until somebody can convince me that then starting up a thread about it has a better motive than just an opportunity for a bit of sniggering / condemnation, I will continue to find threads such as this rather unpleasant. The op wasn't asking others for advice about what she should have done, she was just having a cheap jibe - the title even admits it.

I'm all for a bit of judging, should the chance arise. A mental hoisting of the pants, a muttered 'tut' etc. when faced with somebody else's failure to conform to my standards.

What I really, truly do not understand is the sheer enjoyment that some people seem to get from rushing home and sharing their judginess with a bunch of strangers on MN.

Either the OP is looking to have her ego bolstered by unanimous support from her peers on MN, or there is some kind of other thrill involved. Because, whatever is happening, it definitely isn't helping those children.

As a one off crisis or stress thing I don't think there is a problem here. Sometime totally mad things happen. However failing to dress children for the weather or give them shoes is neglectful if anything other than exceptional.
We don't know which was the case here - so probably best to think the best of this woman and her babies.

Spooky my friend and her children loved their lazy weekends, however from what I can remember they did play outside and were often climbing trees in Wendover woods. I wouldn't have chosen their lifestyle for my family but it worked for them. And TBH I think she quite enjoyed the stir she created in Tescos!!

Judging you for crap clothes!

sigh, wish it were possible to avoid child exploitation on the high street.

Durham Durham - I used to live on the edge of Wendover Woods, we could get into the woods just beyond our back garden - fabulous place for children, and you're right they would come home covered

should add I do however shop quite happily in charity shops.

Ghoulfriend did you ever go to Rumseys chocolate shope and cafe?It's one of the things I miss most since I moved back to Durham!!

Eightieschick is right (that's the second time I've typed that in two days)

loads of children suffer from neglect, the chances are that this is one of those situations rather than that the mum was in the middle of a crisis. I can see why people might want to bury their heads in the sand about that but don't dress that up as some big moral high ground. Some things need a damn good judging.

LOL at the hypothetical situations being dreamt up to justify a mother allowing her kids to trawl around Primark in a sleepsuit without shoes/coats.

Fleeing a wifebeater/housefire. Grandma outside with buggy laiden with warm clothes and shoes.

Put your sensible caps on. You KNOW that mum couldn't be arsed dressing her kids. If I were fleeing a domestic situation/housefire my first priority would be leaving my kids somewhere safe THEN maybe going out and buying them clothes. Who would think "right, that's me out of the house, I'll just nip to Primark to get me some glittery wanksplash t-shirts"

I would have judged them too.

I love 'glittery wanksplash' - I think Grazia should do a feature.

I'd probably assume that the girls had been pissng about refusing to get dressed, and the mother got in a strop and said something along the lines of "Fine! Just stay in your blinking PJs then!". I'm quite sure I did the similar.

They might have driven to the shops - the only foot-tarmac contact being between the car and the store. You don't need shoes and coats to go round Primark.

I still would have judged a bit though. And I'd be a bit worried.