From Cosmopolitan

Raising a human is no easy task - and one West Virginia mother wants to remind you to be a little more empathetic the next time you see a parent struggling with their children in public.

In a Facebook post from earlier this month that has since gone crazy viral, mother of two Aly Brothers shared a photo of herself in the car, sobbing with frustration after a particularly difficult day with her kids.

"This is motherhood," she wrote. "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," she continued. "Single-motherhood is HARD. These tears started as the cashier of Giant Eagle handed me my receipt and continued for the entire drive home."

As Brothers explained, she and her two kids had gone on a quick grocery run to pick up some chocolate milk when her "angel-faced toddlers" suddenly decided to show their less angelic sides. Her younger child cried nonstop and started throwing things, while her older child knocked things off the shelves before running to the freezer section and opening all the doors. Even though Brothers "stopped multiple times to compose [herself] and [her] children," other patrons in the store just glared, clearly judging her based on her children's behavior.

However, Brothers continued to keep her cool throughout the whole thing - that is, until she got to the register, where her children began to argue over a balloon.

"They screamed, they cried, they fought," she wrote. "My youngest pushed buttons on the card machine while my oldest picked up candy."

"The people in line behind me glared," she continued. "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."

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As Brothers went on to explain, her frustration came from the fact that these strangers knew nothing about her yet mercilessly judged her all the same.

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. The glares and whispers and judgments are hard. Sometimes I can control my children, and sometimes I can't. Sometimes they listen, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes I can handle it, and sometimes I break down.

Perhaps the most empowering part of Brothers's Facebook post, however, came at the end. After reminding the world to practice more empathy when they see a kid throwing a fit in public, she then reassured other struggling parents they aren't alone.

I know these days will pass, the tears will stop, the fighting will cease, and my babies will be grown. And that will be hard too. 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. Please don't glare with judgement. And to all moms out there having a day like mine ... I see you, I know you, I love you. You are strong, and you are doing just fine.

To date, her post has received over 15,000 shares and over 30,000 likes - so clearly, her words struck a chord.

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