We had spent the day in London and just arrived back in Cambridge. DS had been as good as you can expect a one year old to be on the train, but after waiting 20 minutes for the bus (bloody Sunday service) he was tired and hungry. It was 5.30, his normal dinner time. Luckily, I had some blueberries and a couple of those mini baby biscuits left over from his lunch, so I thought, give him a snack so he's not crying all the way home and bothering everyone else on the bus!
Then I heard the woman behind me saying to her companion, "look at that, she's got all those treats, and every time he cries she's putting another one in his mouth! I never had to do that with mine! Terrible habit!" Etc, etc.
I took the higher ground and didn't say anything back, plus I don't want my son to think it's ok to have a go at people on the bus. But I was really upset...he's actually small for his age (just above 9th centile) - in fact, the doctor ordered some blood tests a few months ago because he had dropped centiles. He's steady now, but I'm always worrying whether he's eating enough. Ironically enough he really doesn't snack between mealtimes.
But she was a horrible, judgmental bully, no? And tbh - if she didn't feed her children when they were hungry, she's the bad parent, not me! I can't help but feel that if I hadn't fed him, someone (probably her) would have muttered the eternal, "ooh I think someone's hungry why don't you feed him?"
Feel good to have got that off my chest anyway!