There are many difficult jobs we can have in life but perhaps one of the most difficult is being a parent. When you take your children out in public or anytime you have to have a one-on-one dealing with them, life can get pretty tough.
We’re not saying children are not worth it, we are just saying that life can get to you sometimes. When you add on top of the problems your children may be thrown in your direction a person judging you, things can go from bad to worse very quickly.
This is Aly Brothers, a 22-year-old mother of two.
She has a three-year-old named Bentley and a 20 month old name Levi. They are adorable, but they can be quite rambunctious. In her words:
“They’re very cute, they have more good days than bad. But the bad days, man, they take a toll.”
August 21 was a bad day. It was the judgment from others, however, that pushed young Aly to tears.
She had gone to the grocers for milk but the boys weren’t having any part of it.
“We got to the store and they really just didn’t want to be there,” said Brothers.
Levi wouldn’t sit in the cart and began throwing everything from his shoes to her wallet. Bentley ran ahead to the freezers and knocked a few items out. She was able to keep her cool through it, because she knew that sometimes children just act that way.
Then she got to the cashier. The boys began fighting over a balloon and everyone started staring at her direction. An older gentleman then whispered “She’s pretty young for two kids.” That’s when she lost it.
“I just sat in my car and put my hands on the steering wheel and just cried,” she said.
Bentley asked her why she was saddened she told him it was that they misbehaved in the store and people were not nice about it.
“Then he started crying and said, ‘Mommy I want you to be happy,’” said Brothers. “I thought I’d take a photo of this moment to look back on when I have a worse day or a better day. Just to remember.”
She shared her photo on Facebook with the message, “stop judging parents, especially when you know nothing about their lives.”
“This is motherhood. No fancy filters, no good lighting, no new lipstick. It’s messy hair that’s wet from the rain, yesterday’s makeup that I was too tired to wash off, and tears,” she wrote.
“Motherhood is HARD. Single-motherhood is HARD.”
It was also difficult because she had been in an abusive marriage. She had the strength to walk away and being a single mum was not her plan.
“They don’t know me. They don’t know me as a mother. They don’t know my children. They don’t know I was married before I started a family. They don’t know I left that marriage because of abuse knowing I would have it just as hard as a single mother,” she wrote.
The way she ended the post is perfect
Sometimes I can control my children and sometimes I can’t. Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes I can handle it and sometimes I break down. I know these days will pass, the tears will stop, the fighting will cease, and my babies will be grown. And that will be hard too.
So if you see a parent struggling, if you see a kid throwing a tantrum, if you see a mum on the verge of tears…please say something nice. Please don’t glare with judgement. And to all mums out there having a day like mine…I see you, I know you, I love you. You are strong and you are doing just fine.
The Post has gone viral and has been shared nearly 15,000 times. She has also received messages of encouragement from parents worldwide.
“One mum wrote, ‘I am in the bathroom at work crying having a day like yours,’” said Brothers.
She thinks people can relate because people are so quick to judge parents.
“I think parents get judged for every move they make, regardless,” she said. “Every single parent has been in that situation, it’s just the nature of having children.”
She added: “You can’t control them, you can’t make them feel or think a certain way. So if you’re constantly trying to make other people believe you have a perfect life and perfect children, you’ll never truly be happy.”
Via: Buzzfeed
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