A young mother in Florida was horrified to find a photograph of herself and her 5-year-old daughter on Facebook, along with disparaging remarks about her parenting skills.
Erica Kalnins was alerted to the nasty post by her sister-in-law. Online, Kalnins viewed the image, which was taken without her knowledge inside an accessories store called Icing at a Tampa mall.
Her 5-year-old, who wasn’t feeling well, was being carried on her mother’s back in a baby carrier.
The manager snapped a photo of the two, and posted it to Facebook, along with some snide comments. “This is the kind of ignorance that gets passed down to kids … This girl is at least 5, but (what you) don’t see in this picture in the 1 1/2 yr old in the stroller.”
“I got really upset,” Kalnins told People on Thursday. She contacted the manager and asked the poster to remove the image and her remarks. The offending posts were taken down, Kalnins said, but she never got an apology.
Kalnins also had her 1-year-old daughter with her. “I’ve worn both of my children, and I’m not going to criticize someone not using a baby carrier,” she told the magazine. “As moms, we have the same goal: to raise them with love and compassion. And we should not judge parenting skills.”
The corporate office of Icing issued a statement saying “We are appalled by the views expressed by an Icing store manager on her personal Facebook page, and her actions were a significant breach of conduct that we take very seriously.
“Her personal views in no way reflect the views of Icing, and we have taken the necessary appropriate action with the individual,” the company said.
