At the supermarket, I was juggling bags and my crying 7-year-old when a woman began filming me. As I walked out, she said, “People like you shouldn’t have kids.” I froze—until I saw my son trying to stop crying so I wouldn’t be embarrassed. I didn’t yell. I just pulled him into a hug in the parking lot.
That night, I posted our story in a parenting group—no names, just a question: had anyone else ever been shamed like that? The response was overwhelming. Hundreds of parents shared their own experiences—moments of being judged, insulted, or dismissed in public while doing their best. Then a woman named Renata messaged me. She’d been in line behind me. She didn’t speak up—and regretted it.