Parenting is difficult.
It's tough enough just keeping the little people alive and healthy, but helping them grow into responsible, functional, minimally damaged, not terrible adults is actually the much harder part.
A lot of that lies in discipline.
We can all pretty much agree that you should discipline your child. But it seems almost none of us can agree on how, exactly, to go about doing that.
One Texas mom spotted another parenting in a way that struck a chord with her, so she snapped a pic and posted it on Facebook, sparking an interesting conversation about parenting, punishment, and privacy.
Molly Wooden was shopping at her local Hobby Lobby when she noticed a mother in the bathroom with her children. What caught her attention was the way the woman was disciplining her kids.
One of the boys had done something wrong, so his mother assigned him push ups. When he talked back, she calmly added more. The women's sternness and no-nonsense approach stood out to Molly as something she felt the world needed more of.
So she snapped a picture and posted it on Facebook along with her thoughts.
We don't support the trend of "parenting for clout"—where parents post their children's punishments online for views. This is something different, though.
The disciplining mother, who we now know to be Nicki Harper Quinn, didn't know that Molly had taken her picture. She didn't know anything about the Facebook post.
She didn't have the opportunity to say yes or no, she certainly didn't stand to gain any internet likes or views from Molly's post. Nicki was just a mom momming when another person took her picture without her knowledge and posted it.
The post garnered pretty much one of two reactions from people.
Either they talked about the parenting, as Molly intended ...
Molly Wooden / Facebook
Or they wondered what kind of person takes it upon themselves to take pictures of a woman and her children and post them online without that woman's consent.
Especially pictures taken in a bathroom...
Molly Wooden / Facebook
Molly Wooden / Facebook
Interestingly, Nicki did eventually end up seeing the post. Luckily, she was okay with the way that Molly went about things and even thanked her for the post.
The two plan to meet up for coffee later.
It may have worked out well in this case, but in the future we hope Molly refrains from taking pictures of strangers in public restrooms. That goes for the rest of you, too.
