All parents will, at one time or another, experience the exhaustion of a young baby who does not want to sleep.
It should be universally understood that when the baby finally goes to sleep, everyone should stay as quiet as possible to ensure the baby sleeps, which might give them the opportunity to sleep, too.
TikToker Kiarra Hillman was sitting in the backseat with her young daughter, with very glassy eyes, looking exhausted and deliriously relieved that her daughter was finally going to sleep after "374 days."
As her husband approached their home, Hillman quietly rattled off her plan:
"Okay, she's still asleep. If we pull into that driveway, and her eyes are still closed, everybody listen."
"No doors are opening, nope, no doors are opening, no barking, [and] we will eat our food in here."
"I don't care if we're in here for two hours or three days."
When they parked, it was as if Hillman had said nothing as her husband immediately noisily removed his seatbelt, the sound incredibly loud in the hushed car.
Then he argued that he would not stay in the car and he would not eat in the car, even after his wife promised that it would be fun "like a little picnic."
Instead, he opened and slammed his door and then opened and slammed the front passenger door, likely where the food was located.
Hillman looked increasingly shocked, but she was absolutely defeated when she looked back to her baby, whose eyes were open and quietly watching her.
Hillman appeared ready to sob when she turned and said "hi" to her baby.
Then the camera cut to moments later, when her baby was back to loudly crying. When Hillman's husband came back to the car to get more stuff, he asked her if she woke the baby, earning him a glare.
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTokers were furious on Hillman's behalf.
After Hillman's thoughtful list of things they weren't going to do to wake the baby, followed immediately with her husband's clumsy unbuckling of his seatbelt and slamming not one but two car doors, they were certain he was trying to wake the baby on purpose.
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The angry comments just kept pouring in, certain that the husband must hate his wife and child, and calling for Hillman to get a divorce.
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After the video went viral and she received thousands of comments calling for divorce, Hillman posted a video featuring a montage of happy moments and a lengthy caption defending her marriage.
The caption read:
"This week, I was told, 'Divorce him. Leave him now. He hates you.'"
"A video I posted went viral, and it landed on the wrong side of the internet. What was meant to be a lighthearted, relatable parenting moment that we found humor in was completely misinterpreted. Assumptions were made that couldn't have been further from the truth."
"Based on a two-minute video meant to be funny, thousands of comments suddenly appeared about how awful of a man my husband supposedly is. That he hates me. Doesn't respect me. Is a terrible father. And worse."
"I've been doing this social media thing for a while now. I'm used to the chaos of the internet and the absolutely absurd things people say, things that are blatantly wrong, wildly off base, and flat-out lies. People hating me has always felt like part of the territory."
"But having people attack my husband immediately put me into defense mode."
"Every part of me wanted to get online and let everyone have it."
"But the man I'm married to, who is clearly more level-headed than me, reminded me that two wrongs don't make a right. And he's right."
"Still, I couldn't just sit back without saying something. Not to argue. Not to convince people who have already made up their minds."
"I know I can't change the minds of people who look for fault everywhere but within themselves. The people who project their own pain onto strangers. The people who think saying cruel things about someone they don't know is ever okay. And the people who think they know anything based on 90 seconds of someone's life."
"But for the past twelve years, this man has stood by me in my darkest seasons. He has held me up through struggles I couldn't see myself surviving. He is the person | turn to and ask, 'Do you have me?' and without hesitation, he has always answered, 'I've got you.'"
"So even if this post does nothing for the people who don't know us..."
"You are an incredible husband. You love your daughter beyond words. And we are so lucky to have you."
"Not because you need defending, anyone who truly knows you already knows the kind of man you are, but so you always know this: I've got you, too."
You can watch the video here:
Hillman's fellow TikTokers still were not convinced:
Not only did they feel that the previous video was plenty of evidence for what they were feeling, but the caption felt defensive and like it was to convince them, rather than actually being the truth.
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If the couple had been on a long car ride, it would be understandable if her husband felt like he couldn't spend another moment in the car, but he could have at least quietly unbuckled his seatbelt and quietly stepped out of the car, not slamming any doors.
The fact that his wife asked for so little, to simply wait and be comfortable in the car while their baby slept, and his only response was to completely disregard what she said, sent up red flags everywhere, no matter what else Hillman had to say about her husband.
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