Megan Gale is an Australian model and actress and mother to two young children.
Gale recently took to Instagram to share with her social media followers a casual photo of her and her fiancé headed for a night out. She captioned the photo:
River with his Nanna ✔️ Rosie with her Nonna ✔️
With about 10 mins to get ready my man & I are out for a quick dinner date.
Missing our babies ? but SO important for parents to have some couple time when / if they can grab it
Gale’s followers, however, didn’t think the photo was so innocuous.
As Babble reports, Gale received a slew of criticism for leaving daughter Rosie, a newborn, at home.
Gale’s second child was born in late September, and commenters did not agree with the Aussie mom’s decision to head out for a date night with her man so soon after her daughter’s birth.
Commenter srslykate89__ wrote:
Seriously … wow the baby’s a week old! ?
Commenter aims2013I added:
wouldn’t have wanted to leave my baby at a week old?
Commenter mares276 said:
Wow isn’t she only a week old ..
One commenter thought Gale’s photo placed unfair expectations on women who had just given birth to be able to dress up and go out with their husbands.
As melissanatoli44 opined:
@megankgale that’s so lovely you guys get to do that … but I have had a 5 week old and she is so unsettled some days im unable to get out of my pj’s let alone going out to dinner with my husband … your post may place an unreal expectation on other women … ?
Other commenters noted it was a perfectly acceptable move to leave her baby and toddler at home in the care of grandparents. Mel_paterson summarized best:
So she can’t go out for dinner because she just had a baby? Her children are in perfectly good hands and she is very much entitled to go out for dinner with her partner!
Gale edited her original post to address her detractors head on.
She wrote, in part:
For sure we have to devote the majority of our time to our kids. However, IF it can be managed well, stealing an hour or two, here and there as a couple or an individual is a “win” for parents. In this instance we had left Rosie with my very experienced and capable Mum after I had bathed, dressed, fed her and put her down plus I’d expressed enough milk for two feeds just in case. At the moment she sleeps for 4-5 hours and then feeds again so we knew we had more than enough time for a 1 hour dinner, which was 3mins from our house. And last night was no exception, she slept 6pm-10.30pm
Gale then shared her actions following the birth of her second child were a far cry from what she could manage after the birth of her first, now 3 years old:
With River I barely left the house for the first 6 weeks, out of fear, out of guilt and I lost a little part of myself and also developed what I now feel was a mild case of post natal depression.
She added:
If you’ve ensured your child is well looked after in your absence, then there is nothing wrong with some alone time as a couple or as an individual. You’ll be happier people for it and more importantly, better parents.
Many commenters applauded Gale for prioritizing quality time with her fiancé, some even admitting they had done the same thing after the birth of their children and before the days of social media when they wouldn’t have been openly judged.
As for Gale, she doesn’t seem too distracted by the negative attention. After all, she does have a new baby to care for.
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