Consider, for a moment, the current state of your car's back seat. Most likely, there are a few mysteriously sticky spots, and Lord knows there are definitely crumbs. (LOTS and lots of crumbs.) Laura Mazza of the popular blog Mum on the Run knows what that's like. She recently posted a photo of her car's messy back seat on Facebook, which was quite literally filled with trash. But for all the praise she drew from mamas who've been there, she also caught some very strong opinions from people who found it downright gross.
The mom shared the photo of her car in hopes of sparking "solidarity" with other moms who could relate.
In her relatable Facebook post, Mazza joked that she was posting in honor of "my mammas with the trashed cars, full of crumbs, toys, spilled yogurt and broken dreams … oh and a moth."
"I salute you," she added, before issuing a warning to those who saw her photo and cringed.
"To all the soon to be mamas or future mamas who say they won’t let their kids eat in their car when they’re a parent, I was once you," she quipped. "Good luck with that!"
With more than 2,000 people chiming in on the post, things were bound to get messy in the comments section.
Some people were straight-up judgey about it:
"I can't stand having a messy car," one commenter wrote. "My kid eats in it perhaps twice a week, and nothing that will stain or smell. In almost three years, I've not had to wash the carseat once, thankfully."
"No way that pic is the stuff of my nightmares," another person added. "I have a 6 and 3-year-old and yep they’ve never eaten in my car."
"Nope, I could not drive knowing a mess was behind me," wrote a third.
But plenty of people stepped up to admit they had sloppy back seats of their own.
"I can somehow manage to keep my house clean but not my car," one commenter wrote. "I've got to do it or else I run the risk of losing one of the kids amongst the mess."
Clearly, Mazza's post resonated deeply with moms who took one look at her back seat and thought "SAME!"
"I love this!!!" someone else wrote. "As a mum of seven, every other weekend as my fiancé and I have seven together, my car literally looks like I live in it."
"Our car looks exactly the same," posted a third commenter. "I'm also convinced there is stuff growing under our car seats … "
In response to the mom shamers, Mazza later commented with an "after" picture of her car.
"For all those having a hemorrhoid about it, it’s clean now," she wronte in an update. "I am no[w] the proud owner of 46 dummies [pacifiers], 18 pairs of socks, seven pairs of shoes, six different types of toys that light up and make a sound in the middle of the night, without being touched might I add," she wrote. "Two lollipops, one balloon, and a guy called Phil who is now living with us because after five years he doesn’t remember where he is from."
Even though the Aussie mom was full of jokes, she also wasn't afraid to clap back at her haters.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinion," she continued. "But you will get an opinion back, and when you do, you can’t pull out the 'it’s just my opinion card' — ‘cause it works both ways, and best believe you’ll be called out if your opinion is judgmental and [expletive]."
"Thank you for your concern, no need to call vehicle protection and take me to mechanic court, the car is loved," she concluded.
And in a later edit to the post, she tried to nip the negative comments in the bud once and for all: "Perfect parents need not comment, your colleagues are already here," she snapped.
So take that, all you Judgmental Judys!
