We all know how difficult motherhood can be from day to day, which is why it’s so important for us to support each other in every way possible.
It’s upsetting, then, to read a message like the one left by Australian mum Katie Maree, on a community Facebook page.
In the post, Katie addressed a woman she met while shopping at a local Cole’s supermarket, who criticised her over her children’s behaviour.
Acknowledging that her children were being ‘rude and using revolting language’, Katie said she apologised twice – but her fellow shopper was having none of it.
The shopper made a snap-judgment and didn’t have the full story, and it was her ‘ignorance’ that drove Katie to pen the heart-wrenching message.
“You can’t see autism like you can see chickenpox. Every day is a struggle for my children, my family, my whole community; and it is so disappointing that someone like you can just so easily make it that much harder,” she wrote.
Katie’s children are ‘truly great’ – this woman just caught them on a ‘bad day’. The resulting drama, however, left the devoted mother embarrassed and ‘crying her eyes out’.
In a final, impassioned plea to the woman in question, Katie urged her to educate herself and ‘try a bit of empathy’.
She added: “I’m trying so hard to help my kids. Next time you feel the need to have a go at someone about their kids, how about you stop and ask ‘are you OK?’”
Let’s hope Katie’s message has hit home.
