Take a Pass on Passing Judgement

I'm the first to admit it. I'm way too quick to pass judgement on people. It's one of the things I dislike the most about myself. A few months ago, I found myself reading about a woman being kind to a parent struggling with a child having meltdown in a grocery store and it changed my perspective. I made a decision to stop passing judgment at that moment.

You might have heard about the woman in Texas who posted a video condemning a child for having a tantrum in a grocery store. I won't post her name or link to the video because there isn't any useful reason to do so.

The truth is, kids have bad days. They might be in pain and in the grocery store waiting for a prescription to be filled. They might have an underlying condition that isn't visible like autism or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or any one of countless other health issues that impact behavior or cause intense pain and yet have no outward physical signs.

The point is, we don't know why someone else's child is upset. Sometimes, we don't even know why our own child is upset. The last thing we should be doing is condemning the child or the parents. We need to support and nurture each other. Instead of passing judgement, pass on a smile of understanding, a word of encouragement, a pat on a shoulder. We live an an angry and hostile world. Let's change that, shall we?