Mom's Viral Post About Empathy Between Parents Is Everything

It’s hard raising kids. It’s even harder without the help of others. In fact, while you might be a wholly independent person prior to becoming a parent, once you do, you quickly realize how essential it can be to have a solid support system. More than that, it’s important to have support from other parents, even if they aren’t close friends or family. Being kind to and supportive of other parents around us who may be struggling is certainly a big deal. It’s not hard to lend a hand. As this mom’s viral post proves: empathy between parents is everything.

Stacey Waltzer, a mother and blogger at 40 Wishes and Counting, recently wrote about one such experience on her Facebook page. Waltzer apparently found herself at a fast-food play place (you know, the kind with slides and colorful ball pits), when she noticed another mom was struggling to get her son to come out of the play area. He’d crawled in and was just not feeling up to leaving, no matter how much his mother pleaded. And she did. For hours.

When Empathy Between Parents Is Necessary

“I smiled and told her what a good mom she was and I admired her,” Waltzer said in her post. That is certainly step 1 in Being Kind To Your Fellow Mom 101, right?

Waltzer said she believed the boy had special needs, and remarked on her fellow mom’s strength and patience with her son. She decided to try and have her kids help and see if the boy would come down with them. She even suggested a playdate as a bribe for the boy to come down.

“With tears in her eyes, she said thank you. She told me most moms look at her like she has a disease,” the post read. Tears. It’s the type of reaction many of us have when we’re struggling and someone finally shows us a bit of kindness, isn’t it?

More children in the area got involved to help the boy down. He eventually did, and you can bet that mom’s day was made with receiving so much help and support from others.

Waltzer’s takeaway, which should be all of our takeaway, is simple: empathy between parents is essential to our society. Mothers (and parents, really) are often taken for granted. We all assume that they’ve “got this” when in reality, many of us are struggling. A little bit of kindness can go a long way.