Mum blogger Constance Hall has hit back at a viral parent-shaming poster which asks parents to stop using their mobile when picking up their kids.
Australian blogger Constance is known for sharing her opinions freely with her followers, and now she’s addressed a poster displayed at a children’s day care that went viral last week.
The poster, which is directed at parents picking their children up from nursery school, complains that too many mums and dads are using their mobile phones whilst their children are trying to get their attention.
Typed out and stuck to the front door of the nursery for parents to see on their arrival, the notice starts:
‘You are picking up your child!GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!!!’
‘Your child is happy to see you! Are you happy to see your child??’
‘We have seen children trying to hand their parents their work they completed and the parent is on the phone. We have heard a child say ‘Mommy, mommy, mommy…’ and the parent is paying more attention to their phone than their own child.’
‘It is appalling. Get off your phone!!’
Posted at the daycare today!
Posted by Juliana Mazurkewicz on Freitag, 27. Januar 2017
Currently, the image has been liked by 123k Facebook users and shared over a million times.
With a mix of opinions circulating on the internet, blogger Constance has insisted that by being on her phone, she’s not neglecting her children.
The mum of three hit back in a post, thanking child minders for all they do before reminding them that they don’t know what is going on in other people’s lives.
‘Without childcare a lot of us would be up shit creek, begging our husbands for money, kissing the dream of a career goodbye and even stuck in miserable marriages.’
‘But we have you, you keep our kids safe, give them the hugs when we can’t and teach them things we missed. I am so grateful.’
‘Only when I saw this sign those warm fuzzy feelings, kind of fucked off out the window and were replaced with the WTF? feels…’
The ‘Queen of Constance’ blogger continued to explain what her own personal experiences have been when picking up her children from day care.
To the day care centre who felt it necessary to post this sign..I am a 24 hour a day parent of four children. I am…
Posted by Constance Hall on Sonntag, 5. Februar 2017
‘I picked my kids up from school the other day, my husband was at work.
But like always, I was there.’
‘Only I had my phone in my hands. I was reading an email that reminded me that I needed to pay a bill and then responding to my husbands text message.’
‘I shoved my phone into my into my mouth to hug them because I had no free hands due to the fact that I had just walked a kilometre with 2 skateboards in my hands so that my kids could skate down the hill home from school. Yet after all of that, you would call me «appalling» and insinuate that I not happy to see my child.’
Constance revealed that her own mother had never been around to pick her up or attend school awards, because she was working two jobs to pay for their family.
‘Some kids mistook her absence for a lack of love for me. But mum loved me so much that she worked 2 jobs, knowing that we were always one pay check away from living on the streets.’
Constance finished her post by asking childcare staff to be more understanding and to take the sign down.
‘I thank my phone for allowing me to meet my kids needs and work all at the same time. I thank you for keeping my kids safe and well educated during my days..But the sooner you realise that you have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on in other people’s lives the better for everyone.’
‘And from this mother please… take that god dam sign down.’
Some day someone's gonna tell you that your tummies too big.But your eyes aren't big enough. That your thighs are too…
Posted by Constance Hall on Dienstag, 27. Dezember 2016
Comments on GoodtoKnow’s Facebook page after sharing the image have been mixed, with some parents agreeing with the poster’s message while others found it rude.
One GoodtoKnow Facebook follower commented, ‘Wow how incredible rude and judgmental that sign is. Many parents picking children up from daycare, partially a part time daycare / preschool, still are working and have not completed their work day. A child having to wait a few minutes for their parents attention does not mean that child is ignored or neglected. If they were truly concerned there are much nicer ways to say what they wanted to say.’
Another Facebook fan disagreed, ‘Love it! Absolutely agree. Just as parents managed to collect their kids before mobile phones so can we. It’s a matter of 10-15 minutes that are very important to them, people need to learn to prioritise, work will be there later/tomorrow, and to add to this, whilst on nursery grounds parents should follow their rules.’
