Houston, Texas mom Juliana Farris Mazurkewicz got quite a surprise recently when she picked up her children from daycare.

Posted on the door was a rather bold sign that took a hard stance on a touchy subject among parents.

“You are picking up your child!” the post began. “GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!!!”

It continued:

“Your child is happy to see you! Are you happy to see your child?? We have seen children trying to hand their parents their work they completed and the parent is on the phone. We have heard a child say, ‘Mommy, mommy, mommy … ‘ and the parent is paying more attention to their phone than their own child. It is appalling. Get off your phone!!“

 

Mazurkewicz shared a photo of the sign on Facebook , where it’s since sparked quite an uproar, with parents taking very different sides to the issue of parents using cell phones while with their children. And it’s no surprise why; people have passionate reactions when it comes to moms paying more attention to their phones than to their kids, even if only for a few seconds.

When interviewed by Fox News, Mazurkewicz admitted she didn’t actually take offenseto the sign herself. “I thought it was awesome,” she said. “I thought it was funny and it definitely made me (think).”

But not all parents agreed. The post, which has been shared 1.2 million times and drawn over 9.5K comments, has generated a huge amount of attention. (To say the least.)

One woman commented: “Amen, your kids have been at daycare all day the least you can do is leave your phone in the car and be happy to see your children!!!!”

While another woman took a different view: “I think that people need to stop judging so much, you have no idea what’s going on or why certain parents are on their phone. I’m sure they miss and love their children very much, if you are concerned about whether a child is neglected, then you need to address the issue.”

The comments, of which there are MANY, represent an ongoing debate in the mommy wars over how much time on a phone is acceptable. The idea that a mother is not 100% tuned into her child is enough to elicit an avalanche of judgment in a comment section.

But while it may be rude to be chatting away on your phone while also interacting with others, the truth is, we don’t really know why any parent is ever on the phone. After all, it could be an emergency, it could be the boss calling, or it could be a million other things.

The real question here is, was it OK for a daycare to pass judgment on parents by posting such a boldly phrased sign?

As a mother, I totally understand the intent behind the sign — that talking on the phone sends a message to the kids that an adult conversation is more important than saying hello and giving hugs after a long day. But I also think that no decent parent would intentionally hurt their child’s feelings, either. So was being called out by a sign like this really necessary?

While the comments generated by the daycare’s daring sign have been fierce, there was one comment, in particular, that got a laugh out of me:

“I am going to use this and give it to my 18 and 20-year-old, and it will say, ‘your MOMMY is happy to see you! Are you happy to see your Mommy?? GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!!’”


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