Meghan Markle Shamed For Holding Archie
Meghan Markle Has Fun Play Date With Archie, and of Course the Internet Has Something Negative to Say
Meghan Markle is no stranger to doing totally normal things and being shamed for them (remember how upset people were at her for touching her own stomach while pregnant?). So it shouldn't be a complete surprise that the same people who came down on the Duchess of Sussex for cradling her baby bump last year would also be enraged at her for the way she held her son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor during a play date yesterday with Kate Middleton and her three kids. But I am, nonetheless, surprised.
After a flurry of adorable photos came out of the family at a charity polo match in England, a few people became very upset — and very vocal — about how the new mum WHO IS STILL ON MATERNITY LEAVE, MIND YOU, was holding her son. Without spotlighting the negativity too much, I'm just going to include one comment: "Meghan needs to learn to hold her own child. Maybe she gets the nanny to do it! She has no maternal instincts at all. That sweet baby Archie seems so uncomfortable! His neck, back and legs are unsupported in the other pictures. Such a shame," one commenter wrote.
Wow, what an expert assessment of a complete stranger at an event we weren't at! Sarcasm aside, this feels incredibly unfair and cruel for more reasons than I can count. Fortunately, there were enough supporters of Meghan to drown out the negativity in the Instagram comment section, but there are just a few obvious things I want to point out. Being a new mum is incredibly terrifying. Help or no help, caring for a newborn is a round-the-clock job. Sometimes we hold that newborn in really awkward ways. Sometimes they move, and you have to support them in whatever new position they've decided to weirdly rotate into. And yes, your wrists end up flopping in a superodd way that's actually pretty painful and can lead to something colloquially referred to as "mom wrist," which I've had and can attest to sucking.
Let's let this mother we don't know enjoy her day out of the house with friends and family and just congratulate her for trying to figure out motherhood. If baby Archie needs a hat, she'll figure it out. And if his legs need more support in the future, she'll figure that out too. Mamahood is hard, and we think you're doing great, MM!
