It can seem that every move a mother makes is heavily scrutinized, picked apart, and dissected in an attempt to prove just how unfit she is. Even light-hearted moments are sometimes forced under a magnifying glass. That was the case when TikTok user @ryanhmimen shared the devastation her toddler Ryan had created in their home in a matter of minutes.
In the video, which has been played more than 36 million times, the mother discovers her refrigerator door open, its contents strewn about inside or spilling out onto the floor. Cue the mommy shamers.
The viral video caused two very different reactions.
In it, the mom follows a trail of crumbs and sees that there’s something chocolate smeared all over her couch. Eventually, she finds her toddler son, also covered in chocolate, sleeping soundly on the very same couch.
The video is captioned, “This sofa is not even 2 months old!”
Although it put smiles on many people’s faces, it wasn’t long before the viral video sparked a different type of conversation.
‘Where were the parents?’ one commenter asked.
People had questions about Ryan’s parents' attentiveness and even his safety.
“Where were the parents? This didn’t happen in 5 min …” one person wrote.
“Somebody was not watching their child!” someone else echoed. That comment received more than 44 thousand likes.
Yet another person imagined the possibility of more dangerous scenarios, such as Ryan possibly exploring underneath the bathroom cabinet and exposing himself to poisonous cleaning supplies.
Ryan’s mom posted another TikTok video as an update.
Instead of engaging with the questions about her parenting, Ryan’s mom uploaded a follow-up video of the boy sitting on a cleaned couch. She didn’t offer any explanation about where she was during the ordeal or a reaction to the barrage of negative comments. Instead, she simply captioned the second video, “Ryan is safe & sofa cleaned #ryan#toddlerlife#cleaned#lovemyson.”
Viewers want an explanation.
Although we think ignoring all of the commentary was the best course of action, there were more than a few people who wanted a bit more of an explanation from Ryan’s mom, and they weren’t shy about expressing that as well.
“I'm wondering why she doesn't try to defend herself or explain what she was doing while the kid was unattended,” one person wrote. Another inquired if she “learned anything from this.”
We obviously can't explain how this could have happened with such a young toddler. It could all have been staged for all we know. But either way, we kind of like the fact that she doesn’t feel the need to explain herself to strangers online.
