You can't have missed the video that's been plastered everywhere online of late, seemingly showing a mum dragging her young child along the ground behind her as she walks down the street.
It broke my heart.
Not because of the mum's treatment of the child, which many people have been quick to condemn, but because it makes me wonder what the heck is happening to the world, that a mum dealing with her child has become the 'news'.
The mum, who has thankfully not been identified, hit back at her critics, according to the Daily Mail. The paper reports:
'My son has autism, he has meltdowns and throws himself on the floor. What I am doing in that video is the only way I can move him. He does it all the time and won't get up or let me pick him up. He just drops to the floor like a sack of spuds.'
Rather changes the perspective of that video, doesn't it?
And why didn't the passerby offer to help the mum instead of filming her and sharing the video online? Why were so many people quick to condemn her parenting, skills without thinking that there might be more going on than meets the eye?
It's as if parenting is for public consumption these days but instead of strangers offering unsolicited advice to new mums, as they once did, they now see fit to film what they assume to be 'bad' parenting and post it online.
I've never had my parenting skills scrutinised by the world and its mother like this, but I've had enough less-than-brilliant-mum moments, many in public, that it wouldn't surprise me if someone snapped footage of me losing my cool at some stage. And can you even imagine how mortifying that must be?
I felt excruciatingly inadequate when a stranger stopped me in Boots to lecture me about my tantrum-throwing toddler's behaviour. I ended up leaving the shop, my basket abandoned on the floor, because I was so embarrassed.
What mums need at moments like this is a bit of moral support, not millions of people judging without knowing the facts.
How did this video make you feel? Have you ever had your parenting attacked or criticised by strangers? Leave us a comment here or come and join the conversation over on our Facebook page.
why are people so quick to judge when there is no context behind the initial picture. Parenting is hard. Adjusting to becoming a mum is hard. Trying to deal with a situation in a public place when they're having a meltdown and asking for a little understanding from society - come on guys - we've all been there!! She's human....so are you! Don't claim you haven't done this exact thing in your own home!!! This 'mum's net' witch hunt culture is sick and wrong and you all need to get off your high horse and get some perspective!!!
Remember that saying he who is without sin cast the first stone.
I find it laughable that some people are suggesting the lady in question either doesn’t take her child out or has strategies for dealing with his meltdowns. Unless you have an Autistic child you will never understand what she is dealing with on a day to day basis. Meltdowns can come at any time and despite the best will in the world for coping with one type of meltdown for one reason, meltdowns can change in type and reason on a daily if not hourly basis. Would you be happy at never leaving the house with your child? As a mother with an autistic child I am judged on a daily basis for the behaviour of my child “who doesn’t look disabled” and for my ways of dealing with his behaviour, looked down upon which regularly leaves me leaving supermarkets with nothing to show for it and crying in the car for ten minutes before I can drive home. Until you have walked for a day in someone else’s shoes then you have no right to judge anyone.
how disgusting dragging a child along the floor , how would she like it , their are 3 children in our family with autism and none of them get dragged along the floor what a terrible disgusting woman is that any way to treat anybody let alone a child I hope she is going to be dealt with for child abuse , what would you actually say or do if you saw someone dragging a child along the floor right in front of your eyes right next to you !!