Mom Seen Disciplining Her Son In A Store Bathroom Has Parents Applauding
Every parent knows that it takes a village to raise a child, and how to dole out appropriate discipline for misbehaving is an obstacle all parents have to eventually figure out.
One mom showed her son the consequences of not listening to his mother in an unusual place, and a photo of the event is being hailed as a teachable moment.
Disciplining Your Kids
From time-outs to being grounded, or having phone/TV privileges revoked, every parent knows the struggle of disciplining their kids and how hard it can be to get an important life lesson across.
What works for one parent/child might not work for another, and sometimes parents have to get creative.
Shopping...With Children
Oftentimes children don't behave when they're out in public either, and parents need to teach them how to behave in an appropriate manner. It can be embarrassing when they're disobeying you and suddenly all eyes are on you and your misbehaving child.
But that didn't stop one Texas mom. When her son started misbehaving at a store, she had to teach him this lesson the hard way, and it's turned into a viral parenting moment.
The Facebook Post
With over 73,000 likes and 43,000 shares, a Facebook post by Molly Wooden of Killeen, Texas, went viral for the unorthodox way a mom disciplined her son who misbehaved while shopping at a Hobby Lobby store.
Molly shared a photo of an unnamed mother and her two children inside the store bathroom. The mother holds one son in her arms while the other is doing push-ups on the floor.
Give Me 10 More
Molly explains that the woman's older son started misbehaving at the store, and as punishment, ordered him to drop and do push-ups. Even as the son started talking back to his mom, Molly says she kept calm and then ordered him to do more push-ups for being disrespectful.
"If my hands weren't full of children I would have applauded you," Molly wrote on Facebook.
Moms Supporting Moms
Molly adds that when the son complained about doing push-ups on a dirty bathroom floor, the mom reminded him that this was the punishment for being obnoxious. Impressed by this mom's parenting style and disregard for what other people might think, Molly then snapped this photo.
"Random woman of Hobby Lobby, I love you," she wrote. "Keep on raisin' them boys right!"
What Did Parents Think?
In addition to going viral, Molly's Facebook post also garnered 14,000 comments from parents who applauded the mother's actions. Some parents disagreed with her method of punishment, but many quickly came to her defense.
"Parenting, like raising a puppy, needs to be immediate. Don't sass and you won’t be doing push-ups. God made Soap for a reason," one person commented.
The Mother's Identity
The mother in Hobby Lobby was later identified as Nicole Harper. Molly later updated her Facebook post and said that through social media, she was able to connect with Nicole. In fact, this photo started going viral again in December 2021, so the pair met up in person for coffee and even conducted a live TV interview together.
While Nicole thanked Molly for capturing this raw parenting moment, not everyone felt the same way.
An Invasion Of Privacy?
Molly's unsolicited photo of Nicole and her children in a bathroom received backlash as it was seen as "an invasion of privacy." In an update, Molly explains that she had no malicious intent in posting the photo online but acknowledges that it was intrusive, adding she and Nicole have discussed it, and Nicole had this to say.
"She's proud that this has been seen so many times and only hopes that it shows more parents that 'tough love' is okay," Molly wrote.
Nicole's Response
In a Facebook post of her own, Nicole responded to the photo going viral yet again and came to Molly's defense saying that when this photo was taken, the two women were strangers, but it has now forged a friendship.
While she acknowledges it was intrusive, Nicole looks on the positive side in that it sparked a healthy debate among parents regarding the different ways to parent children and how discipline is necessary.
A Lesson In Motherhood
"So before you judge the photographer and try to shame her just remember as a parent at 1 point you've hit your wall and you've hit your wit's end and you've been crying in a bathroom or crying in your bedroom or sobbing or angry wondering if you're doing this parenting thing right," Nicole writes.
In closing, she had one final message. "Let's not do that by tearing another woman down for taking a photograph. This photograph is a symbol of motherhood, [period]."
