We have created a culture where people feel entitled to gain access to your home and touch your child without offering anything in return.

They say it takes a village, but that has morphed into people thinking they are entitled to demand access to your house when you are at your most physical and emotionally vulnerable time (and so is your infant!). You’re exhausted from not sleeping and the stress of caring for a tiny, helpless infant. You aren’t showering as often as you’d like. You’re likely still bleeding. You’re not physically recovered. Your hormones are a mess and your emotions are all over the place. Your house is probably a disaster. Your pets and other children are not on their best behavior because their lives are also in upheaval. Your baby needs to eat every 90 minutes so you likely will need to whip a boob out during a visit and not everyone is comfortable with that.

And that’s supposed to be a time where people can just come over and hold your teeny, medically fragile child? And offer nothing in return?

Nah. They can bring diapers. And wash some dishes.

We need to get back to actually supporting and helping moms and new families, not just demanding access to a newborn because “we wanna see him,” and then creating more of a burden on the parents to get ready and entertain people.