Mom Posts Tearful Response To Strangers Who Judge Her Misbehaving Kids At The Store

A Facebook post from a single mom of two toddler boys is going viral because it's a perfect reminder that being a mom is hard. And in our least proud moments — the moments of screaming, fighting and acting out — that's when we could use a little support. Aly Brothers is a mom who posted a tearful response to strangers who judged and glared at her in the store while her kids were acting out. Her message: it's not helpful, and it's just mean. Being a mom is hard, man.

Try and remember that the next time you see a lady and her kids having a rough trip to Target.

Aly was out of milk and so loaded up her two babies to go score some, she explained on her Facebook post. The trip sounds like the kind of hellish nightmare every mother has experienced at one time or another. Here's a picture of Aly's two darling babies, who are obviously at the age of maximum exhaustion and destruction.

"My youngest cried almost the entire time we were in the store," Aly wrote on her Facebook post, accompanied by a red-faced, post-cry pic of the fed-up mom. "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. 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."

The trip went downhill from there, and involved Superman-ing in the cart, and every toddler parent's nemesis — a balloon. The cherry on the cake of the experience was the silent glare from one woman who was pissed Aly didn't get out of her way fast enough. Nice look, lady. And another comment came from a man who should've kept his judgement to himself: "She's pretty young for two kids."

I would spend more time explaining why these two people are the ones who should be embarrassed, but there's a far more important lesson in Aly's experience than calling out a couple of jerks.

Aly, in her moment of total exasperation was able to take her frustration and public humiliation and turn it into a moment that should offer every mom everywhere a little bit of strength. We're all in the struggle together, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Maybe sometimes we "just can't handle that" and that's OK too. It's just part of the gig. It just so happens that mothers also happen to be young and female, people society prefers to be pretty, subservient, and generally mute. A young woman with children who needs support and maybe just a little encouragement is all too often dismissed as an insufferable distraction. Excuse us for raising the next generation of humans: is that delaying your access to frozen peas, your Highness?

Hold on, lemme put this kid down so I can curtsy. The Facebook post, aptly opened with "This is motherhood," has been shared more than 14,000 times since she posted it on Aug. 21.

The next time you see a mom or dad in public getting their butt kicked by parenting, instead of rolling your eyes or offering unsolicited advice, you could consider what Aly suggests.

"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," Brothers wrote.

Pretty easy, right? Just say something nice. Maybe even offer them a hand. Wise words from a young, overwhelmed mom. You got this girl, even when you don't. And thanks for sharing that "no filter" moment.