Exhausted Mum hits back after being shamed for laying baby on an airport floor

An exhausted mum shamed for texting while her baby lay on an airport floor, has defended her actions.

The caption on the viral Facebook post, read “Albert Einstein said, ‘I fear the day that technology will take on our humanity… the world will be populated by a generation of idiots’.”

The mum says her privacy was violated when the picture, which went viral, was taken at a Colorado airport last year, mother of three Molly Lensing warned others against knee-jerk shaming on social media without context, reports Yahoo.

She explained how she had spent 20 hours sitting in airports with a two-month-old baby that day, and with tired arms from holding her infant for hours, she placed her child at her feet fearing she might accidentally drop her.

“We had the unfortunate luck of being stuck in the middle of the Delta computer shut-down,” Ms Lensing told The Sun.

“Anastasia had been held or in her carrier for many hours. My arms were tired. She needed to stretch. And I had to communicate with all the family members wondering where the heck we were.”

She said the viral photo made her a target for abuse from people who identified her by name and contacted her to shame her as a “bad parent”.

Ms Lensing said the image still haunted her.

“Here’s to all the millennial mums who have been shamed for being normal!” she wrote on her Facebook page last week.

The mother of three said she strived to be the best mum she could be, and knew within herself she was raising her girls the best she can.

How about we just STOP judging parents full stop?!

Share your comments below

15 Comments

- - mom160421 said
  - 27 Oct 2017
    10:29 am
This lady’s reasons for placing her child on the floor seem reasonable given the circumstances.

- - mom81879 said
  - 05 Oct 2017
    6:44 pm
Typical social media storm created by people who don’t know, and aren’t interested in knowing, the full story

- - Ellen said
  - 05 Oct 2017
    7:44 am
It would be good if people would stop judging and mind their tongues ! I can totally understand why this exhausted mum laid her baby down on the floor for a while.

- - mom206279 said
  - 05 Oct 2017
    6:55 am
She did well to last so long. I would’ve had the baby on the floor in the first hour. As if any of these judgy parents would have coped so well in this situation.

- - ashna9 said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    8:49 pm
People are so mean! This baby is on a rug, looks well looked after and is having some play time on the floor. Probably much more interesting for bubs than being held for 12 hours! People need to mind their own business!
- mom90758 replied
  
  05 Oct 2017 , 11:03 am
  Indeed, it wasn’t as the baby was on a table, was crying or clearly in distress. She looked so happy looking around!!
- - mom88151 said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    7:00 pm
I don’t understand ppl’s comments about this… The baby is on a blanket and is probably happy to be free to kick and move freely after a long flight. Ppl just need to mind their own business and concentrate on their own life and leave others who are doing absolutely nothing wrong alone.

- - mom94125 said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    6:25 pm
well i guess it’s better than being on the toilet floor. notice how no-one asked to help hold the baby? but could take a photo of their own ignorance lol
- mom93821 replied
  
  05 Oct 2017 , 6:28 am
  I would be furious if anyone took a photo of me and especially of any of my children and posted the photo. Such a judgmental and sad thing to do in posting a pic – was there any thought for the possible backlash?
- - sars_angelchik said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    5:42 pm
People just need to mind their own business! Even if she wasn’t tired, it’s not really harming the baby letting her roll around on a carpeted floor on a little blanket. Get a life!

- - BellaB said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    5:29 pm
Definitely a breach of privacy, and bad manners. Sure, this might not have been optimal, but you rarely achieve optimal when travelling. It’s a reasonable choice.

- - mom90758 said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    3:25 pm
Absolutely not nice. She didn’t do anything wrong. 20 hours in airports. She must have been so incredibly tired!!

- - sg2031 said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    12:51 pm
I did exactly that with both of my babies flying Sydney to London on my own. Nothing wrong with it. Babies need to stretch, mums need to rest, nosey people need to mind their own business.

- - mom93821 said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    12:37 pm
Anyone can look at a photo and have an opinion without knowing the full context of a situation. It is vile for people to be abusive towards a stranger and absolutely shameful for someone to take a photo and post it – such an invasion of privacy. Maybe, just maybe someone could have offered to hold bub or watch bub while bub and mum both had a stretch and break!? I have offered to help people when travelling because it can be tiring and everyone needs help when times are tough. Maybe instead of judging, snapping a pic and posting it – offer a helping hand.

- - taynik46 said
  - 04 Oct 2017
    11:17 am
if I was in her situation I would have done the exact same thing – she is a baby – having a stretch and a kick on her own baby rug – in front of her mother and it just so happens to be at the airport – big deal – I’m not sure why people feel the need to shame her – if she put her daughter down on the floor of someone else’s house and chatted away to a friend for 20minutes would it really be any different?