"Oh, for Christ's sake, give her a cookie so she'll shut up!" That's what a total stranger said to Taylor Myers as she stood in line with her daughter, Sophie, at Walmart. The little girl was whining, restless, begging for snacks the way every kid does in the store checkout line. But what this annoyed stranger couldn't see is that Sophie has ADHD. In a viral post on Facebook, Myers got real about the demands of raising her daughter and made a passionate plea to others to show compassion for parents they see struggling.
"As I stood in the customer service line of Walmart to cash my paycheck with a cart of groceries (and some wine), Sophie sat/stood/did headstands in the cart, whining over a bag of chips I took away and because she called me a butthole in line," Myers writes on Facebook. "She's relentless. I know this. I live with it. Her ADHD and obsessive little heart gets on these subjects of things she finds unjust and wrong and it doesn't stop."
More from CafeMom: Mom of 3 Nails the Struggle of Finding a 'Happy Middle' Between Mother & Self
Like most parents, Myers refused to give in to her daughter's demands and tried to ignore her tantrums, because, as she writes, "What's giving in to bad behavior going to do but reinforce the bad behavior?"
That's when the stranger behind her piped up, and despite her best efforts to keep her cool, Myers finally snapped. "I could've responded in a nicer way," she writes. "I could've explained to her that my 4-year-old has pretty severe ADHD, I raise my children alone, I'm doing my best, and I had no choice but to wait it out for the groceries. Instead, I heard 'She's 4 years old and you need to mind your own f***ing business' come out of my mouth."
Myers was so upset by the incident, she actually got out of line and walked to a nearby self-checkout to avoid people's stares and awkward glances. She says she had tears streaming down her face. She felt frustrated, offended, embarrassed, and "just freakin' sad that I can't have one good experience in a store with my children."
But, then a different woman came to the rescue. "As I scan my things, a woman walks up and begins to talk to Sophie. She asks her questions to distract her, but backs me up when Sophie begins to go on about wanting the chips. 'No, you can't have those today. You have to be good for your mommy. She needs you to be good for her.'"
More from CafeMom: 16 Moms Confess the Ways They've Totally Given Up on Being the 'Perfect' Parent
As Myers writes, the woman "could've been the antichrist and I would've had more appreciation for her kindness and compassion than I have for anyone else I've ever encountered." And that's because she took a minute to put herself in Myers's shoes. She saw a mom drowning, and she threw her a lifeline. And, to moms like Myers, that can make all the difference.
"You never know what someone's going through," she continues. "You never know the problems a child has that cause them to misbehave. Unless you know the struggle of being a parent to a child like mine, you cannot judge. But it also takes one small act of kindness to make a mama feel comfort and validation."
