Motherhood is perhaps the most challenging thing in human existence. Mothers are expected to care for little human beings who can do absolutely nothing for themselves. They would die without care from their parents or guardians and require around-the-clock attention to keep them fed, rested, and clean. Oftentimes, these requirements come at the most inconvenient time, like when mom or dad is trying to get some rest after a busy day of parenting.
Aleigha Jean is a new mom. She has a seven-week-old baby girl who requires constant care and attention. She was taking a quick shopping trip to the Walmart in her hometown when her baby girl suddenly started crying for food. Aleigha Jean did what any mother would do at that moment and began to breastfeed her infant. She knew that breastfeeding in public could make some people uncomfortable, so she made sure to cover her breasts so no one would have to see where her baby was getting her food from.
One stranger began to ridicule Aleigha Jean for breastfeeding in public because this other mother was with her two sons, ages five and seven. This stranger wanted Aleigha Jean to immediately stop breastfeeding her infant because it was making her uncomfortable that it was happening in the vicinity of her two sons.
The woman criticized and mom-shamed Aleigha Jean despite the fact that she was completely covered up while breastfeeding her daughter. So, the new mom wrote a response on Facebook, calling out the rude stranger’s behavior.
“To the a**hole lady, in lack of better words, at Cobleskill Walmart who felt the need to mom shame me in front of a crowd of people today… ‘You know they make blankets for that… because that’s exactly what my 5- and 7-year-old sons need to be seeing.’ I was completely covered… When my daughter wakes up from a three-hour nap and expects to be fed, I’m going to because that’s my job as a mother, no matter what the circumstances or where I am.
“Maybe you should teach your sons how to be respectable in that situation (which they weren’t present anyway). The only blanket I had, had gotten dirty, and either way, who would want to eat with a blanket on their face, especially with how muggy today has been?
“Completely in shock as to how a WOMAN let alone a MOTHER could put a woman down another for that… I shouldn’t ever have to feel ashamed for feeding my child, but you, ma’am, should definitely be ashamed. With all due respect, and as I said in Walmart, Go F**k yourself.”
Aleigha Jane told CafeMom that she had to hold back tears after getting accosted by the stranger at Walmart.
“I’m trying so hard to do everything I need to do for my baby, and for another woman and mother to tear me down like that, it was really hard for me to comprehend,” she says. “IT IS OKAY to feed your child whenever, and I hope I encourage more women to breastfeed in public because it’s an amazing, beautiful thing! I will never stop, especially not because of some lady whose opinion doesn’t matter to me…”