Mom Takes Daughter With Severe ADHD Grocery Shopping, Ready f For A Tantrum. When It Finally Happens, A Stranger…

A woman’s post about the response a shopper had to her daughter with ADHD’s tantrum at a local Walmart store went viral.

Taylor Myers took to Facebook to share her story, explaining that she was in the customer service line of Walmart waiting to cash her paycheck. Her daughter, Sophie, began crying about a bag of chips:

Her ADHD and obsessive little heart gets on these subjects of things she finds unjust and wrong and it doesn’t stop until she eventually falls asleep or something very dramatic happens to snatch the attention off the obsessed about subject.

We stood in line for several minutes, me ignoring her whining and refusing to give in. What’s giving in to bad behavior going to do but reinforce the bad behavior? I’ve walked out of stores hundreds of times because of her. Almost every time, actually, I end up leaving with nothing I came for and a tantrum having four year attached to my hand and a baby on my hip, but this time I had to stick it out to get the groceries.

Suddenly, Myers wrote, a woman behind her in line became annoyed.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake give her a cookie so she’ll shut up!” the woman yelled, according to Myers.

“I could’ve responded in a nicer way. I could’ve explained to her that my four year old has pretty severe ADHD, I raise both my children alone, I’m doing my best, and had no choice but to wait it out for the groceries,” Myers wrote.

Instead, I heard “she’s four years old and you need to mind your own f**king business” come out of my mouth. I kept my composure until I finished what I was doing and walked to self check out so I could avoid facing anyone else as “that person”. The person with the misbehaving child. The person who seems lazy because they’re ignoring the behavior. The person who knows doing anything but ignoring it is only going to make it worse. By the time I made it to self check out, tears are pouring down my face. I’ve lost it.

 I’m angry, my feelings are hurt, I’m offended, and I’m just freakin sad that I can’t have one good experience in a store with my children.

After the shocking interaction, Myers said another woman walked up to her and started talking to Sophie, asking questions to distract her. The girl asked the woman about the chips she wanted, and the woman backed her mother up and told her she couldn’t have them. The woman explained that she had a daughter just like Sophie.

“Honestly, this woman could’ve been the antichrist and I would’ve had more appreciation for her kindness and compassion than I have for anyone else I’ve ever encountered. It only takes one comment to break someone down,” Myers wrote. “You never know what someone’s going through. You never know the problems a child has that causes them to misbehave and unless you know the struggle of being a parent to a child like mine, you cannot judge me.”

The story quickly went viral, with many applauding the mother for handling the situation the way she did.

“It’s hard taking kids to the store in general, I can’t imagine taking one with adhd,” one MommyPage reader commented on the site’s Facebook page. “People need to realize we’re in this world together.”

“I feel you momma,” another added. “I hate going with my kids anywhere alone because my son is basically uncontrollable. We don’t have the tantrums most of the time just never listening and being wild.”

Sources: Taylor Myers/Facebook, MommyPage/Facebook / Featured Image: UpstateNYer/Wikimedia Commons / Embedded Images: Taylor Myers/Facebook, Crimfants/Wikimedia Commons