Being a new parent is in itself a stressful time in a person’s life. Suddenly, you are responsible for taking care of another life that is totally dependent on you.
And to shame or pressure new parents when they are already stressed is an incredibly unseemly thing to do!
These days it is quite normal for both parents to lend a hand when it comes to raising their child. There are no specific roles that each parent plays and both share responsibilities with each other.
Similarly, Damien Leeson from Queensland helps his wife Melissa Leeson as much as he can. So when the couple was at Caneland Central shopping center and their 7-week-old baby, Harpah needed to be changed and fed, Damien stepped in.
There was a public parent’s room where parents could go to change and feed their children. Damien took his daughter to the room so he could begin changing her.
As he was in the process of changing his daughter, a woman entered with her son and gave him a disapproving look. But it did not end there.
She made a comment toward Damien. He recalled, “She looked at me and started laying into me, saying that it was ‘disgusting to see a fully-grown man in a parents’ room with a little girl.'”
She asserted repeatedly that Damien was a ‘dirty old man,’ and making him feel uncomfortable. After she took her son to the bathroom, she went out and told another friend about Damien and her friend joined in on the disapproving looks.
Damien was incredibly confused by this behavior from these women as was his wife, Melissa.
Damien wondered, “After it happened, me and the Mrs were just in shock. How can someone say that to someone who is just looking after their kid? [sic]”
Damien went home and wrote a Facebook post about this incident and it ended up going viral. A lot of other fathers wrote about similar experiences they had in other public parent’s rooms. This led Damien to wonder, what happened to single dads and what a father was supposed to do.
Damien wrote, “What’s a bloke supposed to do anyway if he’s a single dad? My point is it’s a parents’ room, not a mothers’ room. There are no change tables in the male bathroom.”
Some commenters told Damien that he should develop a thicker skin and get used to these comments. Damien said he would not stop helping his wife, “I’m quite a hands-on father. Whatever I can do to help my wife, I will.”
Damien was not convinced that fathers aren’t supposed to be in a public parent’s room because he believed it was for both parents, not just mothers.
Hopefully, people will start being more accepting of fathers in the public parent’s room. After all, it is for parents not just mothers!
What do you think about fathers being in the parent’s room? Share this article with your friends and family to find out what they think as well!
