Editorial: Unkind barbs hard on parents

Some people were outraged by Jamie Oliver's decision to hold his baby while cooking. Photo / Getty Images

I pride myself on being a happy person, but parenting wowsers are starting to make me angry.

One of the latest examples of their ridiculous behaviour is the outrage over Jamie Oliver's photo where he is holding his 6-month-old son while cooking.

He's received massive backlash from his fans, some who have called him "irresponsible" and others who have said the baby was in serious danger of being burned or scalded by hot fat.

They have suggested Oliver should have left it a bit longer before allowing his son to be in the kitchen.

Well that's not practical is it? What are you supposed to do come dinner time when you're looking after your children?

Anyone with a child (especially more than one) will tell you, sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do and it's perfectly safe to hold a baby on your hip while cooking for a short period as long as you're a safe distance away.

With all three of my children, that's how I showed them the stove is hot, and not to touch.

They could see it sizzling, feel the steam rising and knew it was dangerous to get too close.

While us folk with more common sense far outweigh the wowsers, it only takes one wowser to spoil a situation - or perfectly fine social media post.

One such wowser approached a friend of mine at the supermarket and had a go at her for buying baby formula.

She started off nicely, pointing to the nappies and tinned milk powder in her trolley and said something like "Awww, a baby, how nice". My friend replied with the appropriate polite small talk.

Then the wowser launched in with, "It's a real shame you have to give your baby formula, though". Some more hurtful and ridiculous comments followed.

Social media is wonderful and I can be glued to my phone with the best of them. But sometimes it's just providing a platform for wowsers' comments.

So carry on being a good parent while you cook and teach your children using your common sense around safety.