This young mom’s Facebook post is going viral because it’s just so insanely real

Aly Brothers is the Mom to two sweet, precious boys—both toddlers. And while most people use Facebook to share the ultimate best moments of motherhood, and choose to leave out the parts that aren’t so easy, Brothers took a different approach at the end of August.

See, Brothers made headlines for writing up a viral post that was both brutally honest, and incredibly relatable. While she loves her sons, raising them can be hard. And while she tries to smile and keep going, sometimes she’ll have to do it with a tear-stained face.

Brothers posted this picture with one of the most relatable captions of all time.

Brothers starts out with a brief introduction on what motherhood is truly like.

“No fancy filters, no good lighting, no new lipstick. It’s messy hair that’s wet from the rain, yesterday’s makeup that I was too tired to wash off, and tears. Motherhood is HARD. Single-motherhood is HARD. These tears started as the cashier of Giant Eagle handed me my receipt and continued for the entire drive home,” Brothers wrote.

That morning started out a bit fussy. Out of milk, Brothers brought her two sons to the grocery store, where they just didn’t want to settle down.

“He threw his shoe, he threw my wallet, he threw the three groceries that did fit on his lap. And he cried. And people stared,” Brothers continued. “That was fine, I could handle that.”

From there, Brothers dealt with spills, falls, knocked over displays, and more judgment from the strangers around her. But, the breaking point occurred at the register, after Brothers made the (smart) decision to not buy a Mickey Mouse balloon for her sons after their refusal to share.

“The people in line behind me glared. The cashier glared. Everyone’s eyes were on me as if to say “can’t you control your own children”. One older gentleman whispered, “she’s pretty young for two kids” and I lost it. She handed me my receipt and I cried. They don’t know me. They don’t know me as a mother. They don’t know my children. They don’t know I was married before I started a family. They don’t know I left that marriage because of abuse knowing I would have it just as hard as a single mother. It’s hard people.”

All in all, Brothers makes it obvious that while it’s incredibly easy to judge a situation, nobody truly knows the circumstances behind it. Based on the fact that Brothers is quite young, it’s easy to assume that her children arrived due to carelessness — but instead, they were born into a situation that quickly became extremely dangerous for Brothers. But, Brothers shouldn’t have to, nor should she be expected to, share the details with the people who find it okay to make rude comments within earshot.

Brothers wanted to share her experience to make it a little easier for Moms worldwide. “So if you see a parent struggling, if you see a kid throwing a tantrum, if you see a mom on the verge of tears…please say something nice,” she said as a closer. “Please don’t glare with judgement.”

We’ll definitely be inspired to lend a helping hand next time we see someone in a similar circumstance.