What to Know
One mom is taking on the sanctimonious keyboard moms who are calling her a “bad mom” because of her toddler’s summer plans. Savannah West, a 29-year-old mom based in Atlanta, shared that her three-year-old daughter would be spending most of the summer with her grandparents on TikTok, and people had a lot of strong feelings. Personally, I’d love to be able to send my kid to spend the summer with my parents, because I think that kind of quality time together is so important for everyone. And it’s important for moms to get a break if that’s a possibility. Thankfully, West is paying no mind to the haters.
There was no way to anticipate the strong negative reactions people had.
@thesunherself Big mama needs a break and Grandma is an angel on earth. Anytime I post about my daughter going to stay with my parents for weeks, or even months, there’s always a handful of women who say they could never be away from their children for that long and I just… disagree. If y’all don’t like the Emma Grede discourse around motherhood then you would hate me. Lmao
♬ original sound – ur mom <3
In the five-second video, her daughter Cassidy is playing with bubbles outside. “She doesn’t even know I’m about to send her to her grandparent’s house for 6 weeks this summer and take 4 vacations without her,” West wrote over the sweet moment.
“Big mama needs a break and Grandma is an angel on earth. Anytime I post about my daughter going to stay with my parents for weeks, or even months, there’s always a handful of women who say they could never be away from their children for that long and I just… disagree,” she captioned the post.
While many comments were positive, of course there were the loud comments from people who could “never” do what West does.
“I would literally die omg….. could never be away from my daughter that long,” one such comment reads.
“6 weeks away from my son makes me nauseous just thinking about it,” another mom wrote.
“Well that’s sad,” someone else wrote.
Savannah West pretty quickly addressed those comments.
@thesunherself Replying to @Shorty ♬ original sound – Savannah
“Hot take,” she wrote in a follow-up video. “I’m convinced that moms who make their entire personality being a mom didn’t have no motion before they had that baby,” she said. West directly called out the comments accusing her of not liking to spend time with her daughter.
“Yeah, I like spending time with her, but I also like sleeping in, saving my money, having my food and my lip gloss to myself. And she likes hanging out with her grandparents,” she said.
She also made a video calling out some of the things that make her a “bad mom,” including sleeping through the night when Cassidy was a baby, not breastfeeding, and being the last one to get up in the morning.
“Girl I’ve been called a bad mom since my daughter was born,” she said, addressing a commenter directly. “If taking care of myself makes me a bad mom then I’ll take it.”
West went on to share videos of her and her daughter traveling from their home in Atlanta to her parents’ home in Arizona, and it’s clear that Cassidy is going to have an amazing summer. She also shared a video of her talking to her parents, who told her that six weeks with their granddaughter wasn’t enough and they wanted her to stay “forever.”
She went out of her way to set the record straight.
@thesunherself Since people think I just abandoned my baby to a summer of misery. Lmaooo She is in Arizona having the time of her life, being spoiled rotten. And she looks so stinking cute!! (And I’m at a resort laying by the pool)
♬ Right Back Where We Started From – Minecrafter2011
“A lot of people are under the assumption that I have been asking my mom for a break or asking her to keep my daughter, and that is not the case,” Savannah West said in an interview with People. “My mom had to convince me that I needed this break because I think Cassidy is so cool and so fun, and I love her.”
She directly addressed those moms who tried to judge her for taking time for herself as well. “I don’t know a single parent, man or woman, who had a very fun, successful, joy-filled, active life and then had a child and turned their back on it,” she said.
“I’m showing my daughter that women work, women run businesses, women are successful, [and] women have full lives,” she continued. “I think [that’s the] perfect response to people saying, ‘How could you?’ I’m showing my daughter exactly what I think that a little Black girl should see.”
West says she wants her daughter to know “she was a very fun addition to my life, and that I enjoyed her and that I did not just sacrifice for her.”
“You’ll never catch me on the Internet talking about motherhood trenches or hate my toddler, hate my kid, dumping them off somewhere because I can’t stand them,” she explained. “I love her, and she’s incredibly fun, and that’s what I want her to know.”
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