I fear someone will accuse me of being Chelsea (which I’m not btw, I spend far too much time reading and writing on other threads for that to be the case) or being a friend (also I’m not, but then again, is it that out of order for a friend to come on and defend a friend?) so I’ll just say my piece as an IG observer from afar.
I think I’ve mentioned before Chelsea lost her Mum suddenly and traumatically when she was young. That’s a hell of a lot for her to go through, especially as it seemed that her Mum was her best friend. I don’t know how that would have affected me in my mid-twenties, and to be honest I dread to think how I’d have coped, or how my behaviour would have appeared to others. I feel others forget this, and the trauma she must still be going through. I know it’s not a get out of jail free card, but I do feel this kind of tragedy does affect people, and prolonged and unresolved grief can make people appear erratic or even contradictory in their behaviour to people who have not experienced similar.
I think, with the exercise and her advice, although it may not come across in the right way sometimes, I don’t think she’s being deliberately malicious by what she says. I always say judge people by their intentions, and I do think her intentions were well meaning, to try to inspire others to make a positive change in their lives, despite the way it was worded.
As for H, he is evidently loved on both sides of the family and is being taken care of, there are no signs of real neglect, so I find some of the hysteria here a little unwarranted. As for her trip to Glasgow, an acquaintance of mine’s toddler was ill last year, and because this baby was her first, she felt more reassured sending him to her exes (the Father of her child) as the Grandmother would be there (a mother of 3 children) so she felt he would be under better care there, from someone with experience looking after him. I think it may have been a confidence issue there on Chelsea’s behalf, to send him to someone who she felt had more experience, and would know how to look after a child with croup.
I know people will say with regards the above, she’ll never learn if she doesn’t take care of him, but if she reads this thread, is it any wonder she’s have a crisis of confidence when so many people berate the way she cares for her child? Again, when she went to Glasgow, I’m sure she was reassured it was croup (a very typical baby thing to have) by the medics, and the suggestion she’d have left H had it been more serious is just hypothesising and not really conducive to the reality of the situation. Do we really think she’s have left him had it been more serious? I think it’s awfully harmful to suggest such a thing. And I personally believe she was trying to do the best thing by H.