David Beckham is right: Enough with the unsolicited parenting advice

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David Beckham has a life most of us can only dream of. He's rich, he's powerful, he's famous. But none of those things make him immune from one inescapable fact of being a father – other people weighing in on how he's failing to be a good dad.

Mothers have to deal with this, too. It starts the moment people find out you're pregnant. They have advice. They want to tell you how to do it right. That advice eventually becomes judgment, usually the passive-aggressive sort.

But some people seem to assume that fathers are especially inept – we just don't get it the way moms do – and we need to be told what we're doing wrong.

We don't. What we need is for you to realize that we are actually quite good at this and we know our child much better than you do, so please just zip it.

On Sunday, the Daily Mail newspaper published a story asking why Beckham's four-year-old daughter still uses a "dummy," the British term for pacifier. The article ran with a photograph of Beckham walking with his daughter with a pacifier in her mouth.

Parenting experts told the newspaper Beckham was putting the girl at risk.

"I can't believe she is still using a dummy. If she has a dummy in their mouth at this age, at four, it really can damage her teeth and it is very likely to hinder speech development," one "parenting expert" said.

Beckham took to Instagram to ask the question every parent in his situation has screaming inside their heads: "Why do people feel they have the right to criticize a parent about their own children without having any facts??" he wrote.

As for the pacifier, Beckham explained, "Everybody who has children knows that when they aren't feeling well or have a fever you do what comforts them best and most of the time it's a pacifier."

In other words, he knows what the situation is and is acting accordingly for his child.

Still, too many people are incapable of realizing this when a dad is out with his kids.

A woman once scolded me for not having a hat on my baby, even though it was face-melting level hot outside and my daughter was in shade. This woman was wearing a sweater. I just stood there smiling politely, saying something along the lines of, "Oh, I'm sure she's okay, but thanks." What I wanted to scream was, "Listen, I'm not questioning you for wearing a sweater in 40-degree heat, am I? No, so do me the courtesy of minding your own business."

Even when a parent makes a small mistake, the reaction is usually smug or hysterical.

Earlier this year, Ryan Reynolds was seen holding his six-month-old daughter incorrectly in a carrier. Her legs were sticking out the bottom when they should have been spread apart and tucked up.

The online reaction? In the words of Today host Matt Lauer, "All hell broke loose."

Prince William had to deal with the same thing when everyone freaked out that little Prince George wasn't strapped in to his car seat properly.

Obviously, there are times when it is appropriate to offer parents help or advice. If someone is trying to get a stroller up a set of stairs or on to a bus, offer to help lift it. If you see a parent doing anything clearly dangerous, by all means, intervene.

But if you see a dad doing something you just don't agree with, or see him doing something you believe in all your great wisdom he could be doing better, remind yourself that it's his kid and, frankly, he's been given enough advice already, thank you very much.