This mother's brutally honest post shows what being a parent is really like

Some parents would have you believe that their children are always a problem-free joy to manage.

We have become accustomed to projecting a certain image of familial ease on social media - so here's a reminder that it's not always quite that simple for parents.

Aly Brothers, from West Virginia, is a 22-year-old mother to two boys.

Last month she took her sons, three-year-old Bentley, 20-month-old Levi, on an early morning shopping trip to the supermarket.

However, as Aly wrote, Bentley and Levi "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. He got mad. He threw his shoe, he threw my wallet, he threw the three groceries that did fit on his lap.

And the oldest?

My three year old wanted to be superman and stand on the cart. That was fine. I told him to hold on and stand straight. He did not. He fell off, he leaned backwards and knocked things off their displays. He leaned back and bumped a stranger. Then I made him get down and he walked too far ahead of me and opened all the freezer section doors telling me all the things he wanted to get.

The situation developed as Aly received a few glares from fellow shoppers. Then the boys started fighting over an $8 balloon at the cashpoint.

Aly then overheard an older man whispering:

She's pretty young for two kids.

In her own words, Aly then "lost it", crying from the cashpoint to the car.

She wrote about her experience in a Facebook post, as well as a photo of her complexion after the experience.

These tears started as the cashier of Giant Eagle handed me my receipt and continued for the entire drive home.

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.

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.

indy100 has contacted Aly for comment.

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