I Had No Idea There Were So Many Perfect Parents Out There Until I Checked My Facebook Feed After the Cincinnati Zoo Incident

Who knew there were so many completely flawless parents out there? I assumed that, as moms and dads, we've all made the occasional mistake, but looking at my Facebook newsfeed this weekend has totally proven me wrong!

I'm being sarcastic here--as it's my true nature--but seriously... the amount of righteous indignation I am seeing on social media is getting me a little heated, y'all.

In case you've been living in a cave without wifi the past few days, here's what's up: a four-year-old boy somehow climbed into a gated enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo Saturday. In an attempt to rescue the little boy, zookeepers had to put down a 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe.

It's tragic that the gorilla had to be put down. There's no debating that.

My problem is OTHER PARENTS. I have seen SO MANY posts crucifying the mother of the little boy. There's even a petition to bring criminal charges against her. She's been inundated with hateful messages and threats.

Why? What do people hope to accomplish by berating this poor woman? I'm sure she already feels overwhelmed with guilt, so piling on the hate isn't helping.

And WHOOOO BOY at the amount of hot garbage on my newsfeed. I'm seeing post after post about how awful this woman is and how REAL PARENTS never take their eyes off their children, even for a second.

THAT IS B.S., y'all. Everyone makes mistakes.

I know I do. Once I thought my daughter was playing quietly in her room while I was cleaning the kitchen. I came back to her room later to check on her, and she'd gotten into my bathroom and grabbed about $300 worth of makeup and emptied it into a bucket--and swirled it around with a $50 makeup brush. Loooord, I was so mad--and I also felt so guilty... what if she's gotten into another cabinet instead? What if she'd found cleaning supplies or other chemicals that could have hurt her?

Last year, she had a runny nose every day for a week. She had a little cough but no fever, and I assumed she just had seasonal allergies. She woke up in the middle of the night with a fever of 104, so I took her to the ER. She had pneumonia. I had no idea, and I felt SO GUILTY.

We all make mistakes. There is no such thing as a perfect parent.

Tearing other parents apart doesn't accomplish anything. Quit judging and get to helping.