Mother's moving post on not judging other parents goes viral

'When people are overwhelmed they need help, not condemnation'

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Several years ago, Megan Orr Burnside called the police on a mother after witnessing what she thought was an abusive exchange between a mother and her son.

Now, Burnside has described why she regrets her actions, and why she is urging other mums to pause before they act, in a Facebook post that has since been shared 14,000 times.

According to her post, Burnside realised her mistake when she received a phonecall from the police she had called.

It turns out the boy was autistic and the mum “really struggled with him, and she had even asked for the police’s help in the past to deal with him because he was very violent.”

The police also told Burnside they had been helping the mum, and “she’s doing the best she can.”

Reflecting on the incident in her post, Burnside describes how “in my eagerness to protect the child, I neglected to offer help to the mother,” but has since learned the importance of pausing before judging a parent’s actions.

She witnessed the power of offering help - rather than passing judgement - first-hand when she saw a mother having a hard time with two children in a store recently.

Burnside describes how this incident was similar to the one she witnessed years ago, but in this case, her own actions were enough to diffuse the situation.

Admitting that “years earlier I would have been holding my cell phone ready, watching to see if she did anything that I should report,” Megan describes how she instead helped the mother, telling her she was a good mum, and that everything was going to be okay.

Mum wants people to pause before they judge other mothers

Concluding her post, Megan insists “it’s time to stop judging each other and start helping each other.”

Although she may regret her actions years ago, she is “grateful for reminders (even painful reminders) that we are not that separate. We are not that different.”

And while she acknowledges that there are times to call the police, Megan wants people to consider other courses of action if they witness parenting issues, because, as an outsider, you never truly know the full story.