It’s very easy to forget that nearly everybody we encounter is warring against a battle that may not be visible to the naked eye.
Thus, people readily make snap judgments about others based on stereotypes and preconceived notions rather than taking the time to learn that person’s story.
That couldn’t be more true in the department of parenting.
Rather than building each other up and becoming a close-knit village that raises our children, we’ve largely become a culture of individualistic snobs who believe our own ways are “higher.”
Parent shaming is an epidemic flooding our country, and one father that has felt the burn of its sting very personally is out to encourage others to stop judging one another.
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Brent Gehring has a 6-year-old daughter, Emma, who is battling a brain tumor and going through her [seventh] round of chemo. Unfortunately, because of Emma’s condition and the toll that chemo has taken on her body, she is no longer able to walk without the use of her walker.
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With that being the case, it’s not uncommon for Brent to carry his daughter, especially when they’re out in public.
But one particular evening after leaving a family dinner, Brent was harshly called out by a stranger who couldn’t BELIEVE that what appeared to be a capable 6-year-old wasn’t walking on her own.
“What the F*+k?” he yelled from 30 feet away. “Make her walk. That’s what is wrong with kids today.”
With his blood boiling over the man’s cruelty and disrespect toward his daughter, the angry father admittedly had a tough choice to make. He could scream back at this man and tear him down, or he could use this a teachable moment to enlighten him about Emma’s situation.
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In great restraint and courage, he chose the latter.
What resulted was a teary-eyed encounter between two grown men that is teaching the whole world a thing or two about judgment.