A Florida mother-of-two was left horrified after discovering she had been publicly shamed on Facebook by a store manager who posted a picture of her online in a post criticizing her choice to carry her five-year-old child in a baby carrier.
It was 31-year-old Erica Kalnins' sister-in-law who first spotted the photo on Facebook and alerted Erica to the nature of the post featuring the image, which was taken without her knowledge, while she was shopping at an Icing store in a mall in Tampa and carrying her five-year-old daughter on her back. Even worse than the image itself however, were the words that had been posted alongside it.
'This is the kind of ignorance that gets passed down to kids and ppl enable their children to be independent,' wrote Mindy Domingo, a manager at the store. 'This girl is at least 5 but what u don’t see in this picture is the 1 ½ yr old in the stroller. God People are f***ing stupid!!! [sic]'
In the image, the child was propped up on her mother's back in the same position a parent would use if he or she were giving their child a piggy back. But instead of being held up by her mother's arms, the youngster was supported in a green, cream and pink baby carrier.
Aside from the initial remark, Mindy continued her rant in the comments of her post, saying that the daughter was 'checking out jewelry just fine', before adding: 'Plus I can't tell you how many kids i see in strollers that must be 5, 6, 7, 8 years old. My step-daughter has walked with no stroller since she was 2 unless it was at Disney.
'Ridiculous!! Just like money backpacks!! Either watch your damn kid, keep them strapped in a stroller, leave them at home or better yet DON'T become a parent!!! [sic]'
Horrified, Erica reached out to the woman who posted the photo and requested that she remove it. But instead of receiving an apology, or even a response, the woman simply deleted her page.
'It's not acceptable to be photographed while I am shopping at a business with my five-year-old – and bash that person and post it on the Internet,' Erica told People, adding that she also had her one-year-old daughter with her in the store.
While the sight of a child of that age carried in such a way is not terribly common, Erica explained that, not only is she happy to carry both her children, but she was actually doing so on that particular day because her oldest daughter was unwell.
'Actually, we just stopped [at the shop] because my daughter wanted some bracelets. She was excited but she wasn’t feeling well so I said we’ll stop real fast so I put her in the Tula on my back,' Erica added to Yahoo.
The photo and Erica's story, which was shared hundreds of times, quickly gained support from other baby-wearing moms globally, many of whom reached out to Erica - who is a stay-at-home mom an photographer - with their own photos and stories.
The day after the post, dozens of moms - many of whom had their babies along with them - marched on the store's location in Citrus Park Mall with Erica to protest the shaming of moms who carry their children.
Erica also tentatively planned a sit-in at the store for Friday.
In response to the backlash, Icing released a statement on their company Facebook, saying: 'We were appalled by the views expressed by this manager on her personal Facebook account.
'Her personal views in no way reflect the views of Icing, and we have taken the necessary appropriate action with the individual.'
The company also personally apologized to Erica for the manager's actions, though Erica claims she has yet to hear from Mindy herself.
'It has nothing to do with being a lazy parent — it just has to do with us as moms wanting to carry our babies close because they're not small for long,' Erica told Yahoo. 'We want to educate people that it's not a weird thing to carry your baby it's totally normal. We like to carry them to have them close we have both our hands free. It's a common sense thing — and we can shop and they're not destroying your store.'
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