Video Captures Mom Being Shamed Over Toddler's Loud Voice. But the Internet Is Divided
Karley Welch, a mother of two from Greensboro, North Carolina, was filming a grocery haul at her local Aldi when the camera captured more than just her shopping bags.
Now the footage is going viral — and stirring a debate over child etiquette in public spaces — after Welch shared it on TikTok.
As she scanned her items, her 18-month-old son, Bellamy, sat in the cart chattering, his spirited sounds filling the store. Then, a woman's voice cut in: 'He needs a volume button.'
Welch, 24, glanced at the passerby but didn't respond. Her expression, however, said it all: a mix of disbelief and confusion.
'It's not like he was throwing a tantrum or screaming,' Welch tells TODAY.com. 'Had we been in a restaurant, you know, I definitely would have tried to get him to quiet down, or we would have left.'
'Your reminder you're entitled to a child-free life, not a child-care world,' she captioned the post.
Reactions to the video were mixed. Some viewed it as a moment to underscore the importance of teaching young children to use softer voices in public, while others defended Welch, noting that the sounds of a toddler are both developmentally appropriate and often less disruptive than adults speaking loudly on speakerphone.
'Great opportunity for you to teach your child to use indoor voice, respect,' one person wrote in the comments.
'It's a grocery store not church, people look for anything to be bothered by.'
'Or we teach our kids not to yell in stores.'
'Child-free and I can't imagine my day being disrupted over something like this. Everyone has gotten too sensitive. Sometimes kids are loud and we survive.'
'America actually hates kids I swear. Trust me. She was having a bad day. It's definitely not you!'
'I'd rather this any day over an iPad kid watching YouTube at full volume.'
'Telling your kid, 'inside voices sweetie' isn't hard babe.'
'I've heard WAY louder adults on FaceTime or on phone conversations with AirPods in grocery stores so.'
'Some of y'all have never had a toddler and it shows.'
While speaking with TODAY, Welch says she's helping Bellamy learn to use a calmer voice, just as she did with her son Ledger, 3.
'My 3-year-old was sitting right next to his brother, and he was quiet because he knows not to be loud, Welch explains. 'So I thought some of the comments I received about my parenting, were kind of extreme. All they saw was an 11 second clip.'
Asked how she might respond now that she's had time to reflect, Welch says she'd probably just tell the woman to mind her own business and remind her, 'He's just a baby, lady.'
Mariah Grumet Humbert, founder of Old Soul Etiquette, expresses empathy for Welch, and cautions against rushing to judgment based on a short video.
'He's a toddler, and teaching manners to a child of that age is a process!' Grumet Humbert says.
Welch, who works part-time at a coffee shop, says she's especially tolerant of little ones at work, because, of course, she gets it.
'They're impulsive and can't self-regulate yet,' she says. Then, with a laugh, she adds, 'Sadly, neither can a lot of adults.'
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
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