Publicly Shaming Moms For Potty Training Accidents Isn’t Helping Anything

mom-shamed-for-potty-training-accidentA Missouri mother is embarrassed and angry after a checker at a Dollar General store shamed her for what she considered to be an inappropriately dressed child. The two year-old was in underwear and a t-shirt at the time – her had mom changed her out of her wet clothes in the bathroom after a potty training accident. I don’t see the point of shaming a mother who is doing her best in a difficult situation. Mind your own business.

Samantha Sargent‘s recently potty-trained daughter had an accident. Mom did the best she could do at the time – she grabbed a new pack of underwear to buy and took her daughter to the bathroom to get her wet clothes off and change her. When she got to the checkout to pay for her stuff, the checker told her that her daughter wasn’t “properly dressed for a public place” and that she needed to leave the store.

I don’t know that there’s a “right way” to handle a potty training accident – I think all parents just kind of roll with the punches when that unfortunate event occurs. When it happens at home it’s one thing, but when it happens in public there is a whole other level of stress to deal with. I think Sargent did her best with the situation. I’m not quite sure what the checker expected her to do or why she was so distraught at the sight of a two-year-old in underwear. Big deal.

Sargent took to her Facebook page to complain about the incident:

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I totally understand the mom’s annoyance here. She was checking out, so obviously soon to be heading out of the store. What was the point of telling her she needed to leave? It just sounds like someone being a jerk for no reason.

The manager of the store took to Facebook as well, with her own thoughts about the incident. She said, “OK so people give me your thoughts. Who thinks its [sic] OK to have your young daughter in a public place with underwear and a t shirt. Mind you the t shirt didn’t cover the underwear and it barely covered the t shirt.” This didn’t help things.

The Dollar General corporate office apologized for the incident and promised ”additional training” for the employees in Holt. Can you train employees to mind their own business? Because that’s all that really needed to happen here.

(photo: Facebook)

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