Not mincing words, a daycare posted a sign on the front door with a blunt demand for parents who were there to pick up their kids. After one parent snapped a picture of the incredibly direct message and posted it on social media, it seemingly struck a nerve as it quickly went viral.
Juliana Farris Mazurkewicz, a Texas mother of four, was picking up her two-year-old daughter Caroline from her daycare just outside of Houston on a Friday afternoon when she noticed a newly posted sign on the doors, according to WTAE. It was a message for parents, so Juliana took the time to read it.
Although the sign was undoubtedly blunt, making demands of parents who were arriving to pick up their children, the mom said she “totally agreed” with the message, the NY Post reported. Juliana snapped a photo of the sign and posted it on Facebook. Little did she know, she was about to go viral as the sign’s controversial message sparked heavy debate with plenty of comments applauding in agreement and many others openly disagreeing, according to Yahoo! News.
The sign was a blunt message to parents, telling them to get off their phones, and in hopes of driving home their point, the daycare deployed all caps and many exclamation points.
“You are picking up your child! GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!” the sign read. “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 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 child. It is appalling.”
Although Juliana happened to have her phone in her hand at the time, she said she usually doesn’t bring it into the daycare for the exact reasons mentioned on the sign.
“At first, I was mostly surprised, it’s surprising for a business to put something that bold to their customers on the door. I knew exactly what they were talking about, because I’ve seen the parents that they’re talking about,” Juliana explained. “And I don’t want to criticize anyone, because I don’t know any of those parents’ situations, but I think it’s something we all do. Maybe not in that specific situation, like at the daycare, but maybe at the dinner table or the car, definitely I do it. My husband and I talked about it, we both agreed, we all do it. It serves as a great reminder.”
So, it was in support of the sign that Juliana snapped the photo and posted it to social media, saying it served as a useful reminder to all parents about a growing problem that stretches far beyond the daycare doors.
