Newsflash: motherhood is hard. It’s even harder when you’re doing it alone.
That’s why mums all over the world have come out in virtual support of one young mother after she shared the gory details of a disastrous trip to the supermarket with her two kids.
In a Facebook post titled ‘This Is Motherhood’, Aly Brothers described the simple excursion that left her in tears:
“… my two blonde haired, blue eyed, angel faced toddlers were not so angelic today. It was 8:00 in the morning and we were out of milk. We took a trip to the store because if you know my kids; you know they survive on chocolate milk. But they weren’t having it. My youngest cried almost the entire time we were in the store. He didn’t want to sit in the cart, he didn’t want to be buckled, he wanted to hold all the groceries on his lap.”
Things quickly escalated:
“He got mad. He threw his shoe, he threw my wallet, he threw the three groceries that did fit on his lap. And he cried. And people stared. That was fine, I could handle that.”
Then Aly’s three-year-old began getting boisterous, earning her a glare from a woman in the aisle. Composing herself and carrying on, it appeared things were improving:
“And then we saw balloons. Oh how my kids love balloons. They wanted the huge ones that cost $8.00. I compromised. We would get one balloon and share. They agreed. They each said “share” and smiled as I picked the biggest Mickey Mouse balloon they had. But while we were checking out they did not want to share. They screamed, they cried, they fought.”
To discipline them, Aly put the balloon back, explaining to the children that, if they couldn’t share, nobody would have a balloon. The kids reacted as kids predictably do…
“My youngest pushed buttons on the card machine while my oldest picked up candy. The people in line behind me glared. The cashier glared. Everyone’s eyes were on me as if to say “can’t you control your own children”. One older gentleman whispered, “she’s pretty young for two kids” and I lost it. She handed me my receipt and I cried.”
Posting a post-grocery store selfie in the car, Aly hit out at the strangers who judged her:
“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. It’s hard people. The glares and whispers and judgments are hard.”
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 mom on the verge of tears…please say something nice. Please don’t glare with judgement. And to all moms 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.”
Never a truer word spoken, Aly. You can read her full post here:
