One of my current students, Stan, passed on this excellent blog post about the looks we sometimes give “bad parents” when we see their unruly and out-of-control children. The author nails the reasons for the shaming looks and thoughts we have: PRIDE.
It is also good to consider that whenever we see a child melting down in the grocery store or a parent using less-than-ideal strategies, we don’t really know the whole story. In the post you will see this mother’s understandable excuse for her child’s behavior–pediatric brain cancer. Of course, not every parent has an unruly child with cancer. But let it be a reminder, you don’t know the whole story and haven’t walked in their shoes…
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
Amen! As the parent of a child with autism that “looks normal”, I have recieved many a withering stare (or unsolicited judgmental comment) in the grocery store, etc… Thank you for reminding people not to assume anything.
They key is pride, it has a function as well, If we didn’t ever expect people to behave a certain way, it would be chaos.. But this is a good reminder. I think though this kind of judgment and expectation is much greater in other cultures than America, where people are more often appreciated for being and acting different.