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In an ideal world, parenting should be all about keeping your children happy, healthy, and loved. But as one mom found out recently, even if you’re supporting your kid, helping them excel at a sport, and showing them love, there will be parenting critics out there and they will find and judge you.
Proud mom Amber Lund attended one of her teen son’s high school football games in mid-August and shared a touching moment from right after the game, when her son picked her up off of the ground in a hug.
“This boy will forever and always have my entire heart,” she captioned the post. “Gina captured the end of this moment, and I’m SO grateful. When I walked up to hug my baby boy after his game, he immediately picked me up and just held me. It may have been 20 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, I have no idea. But in this moment, time stood completely still. I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve you @brix_wright but I am thankful every second of every single day for you.”
It seemed like a nice moment and a nice message, but almost immediately critics were crawling in the comments, judging Amber for her outfit and for how she embraced her kid on the field.
“It’s not about your son!! It’s YOU!! Straddling him,” one person wrote. “And in front of his teammates, classmates, cheerleaders, their parents, coaches, teachers, etc… He’s going to get comments from his classmates if he hasn’t already. We know how that goes, and so should you.”
“Mom trying to be a teenager,” one person wrote. “Skin tight white pants, camesol top and heels not age appropriate.”
“That guy’s future wife doesn’t stand a chance,” said another.
“For some mothers when a man’s not in the picture the son is mistaken for one,” another wrote.
Amber replied with her thoughts in the comments.
“For those who clearly are disturbed and have their minds in the gutter about this video, allow me to offer some clarification,” she wrote in the comments. “1. My son PICKED ME UP and this video was captured toward the end; I did not jump on him. 2. He and I do have a close and HEALTHY relationship. If you were lose your father to suicide due to alcoholism at the young age of 15, I would hope you would have a mother to be close with. 3. My son is a 4.0 student, an athlete, doesn’t drink, doesn’t do drugs and has never been in trouble. Just try to get on my level as a completely single mother, I dare you. 4. If you see something wrong with a boy wanting to pick up and hold his mom after a rather intense football game, maybe ask yourself what in the hell is wrong with you that your mind goes there.”
Others came to the comments to support the mom.
“Y’all didn’t have affectionate parents….and it shows,” one wrote.
“Let me tell you I have a 19 year old son and he still holds my hand walking down the street, we cuddle like we did when he was a child and he will even give me a piggy back ride,” another mom wrote. “The same with my 18 year old daughter. People who don’t have affectionate, loving parents will always have something negative to say. Let the haters hate.”
A few days later, Lund shared her son’s response, which reads, “My mom is my hero. She was just giving me a hug after the game and I did pick her up she did not jump on me. My mom’s been the only person who’s been there for me my whole life.”
“And… I’m BAWLING,” she wrote in response. “For those who are ‘concerned’ about the welfare of my son and the relationship he and I have… here’s just a tiny tiny tiny snippet of a response he sent to someone about the viral 4 second video of he and I hugging. Attack, judge, criticize, ridicule, try and break me down. You won’t ever be able to because I am beyond blessed to have THIS. I will take allllllllll the negativity in the world thrown my way and I will continue to hold my head high and raise this incredible young man to overcome any and all adversity. Little does he know, he is MY hero.”
Whether or not you think the hug was appropriate — or whether you had a problem with the mom’s outfit — it might be a good moment to stop and wonder if you should judge her and her family, or if you should mind your business. It certainly seems like nothing more than a picture of a mom who is loving and supportive to her son.
