Florida Mom Gets Facebook-Shamed By Store Manager For Carrying Tired 5-Year-Old In Baby Carrier

Erica Kalnins never expected that just taking her kids to the Citrus Park Mall would result in an Internet nightmare of the highest order. So the 31-year-old mom of two was shocked when her sister-in-law told her there was photo of her and her kids shopping that had gone viral on Facebook.
A woman named Mindy Domingo, manager of a mall jewelry store named Icing, had posted the photo of Kalnins and her 5-year-old daughter on her public FB profile. In the pic, Kalnins was carrying her daughter in a baby backpack (Domingo had pointed out that she also had her infant in a stroller).
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Domingo posted the image with a rant criticizing Kalnins for putting her five-year-old in a wearable carrier, noting that any parent who would allow such a thing was setting their child up to remain dependent for life.

Erica Kalnins and her kids, via ABC

Kalnins was irate. She’d had no idea that her picture was taken, let alone posted to social media. She told reporters that her daughter hadn’t been feeling well but wanted to check out the store, so she’d put the child in the baby backpack. She said that she did not believe such a thing made her a lazy parent, just a regular mom. Kalnins contacted Domingo to request that the post be taken down; she also requested an apology. Domingo relented and removed the posts, but never apologized.
Kalnins was buoyed by the support she received from child-wearing parents all over the world, however. A group of 24 moms, complete with children in baby backpacks and other forms of child carriers, gathered at the mall where the incident occurred.
The Icing store was quick to act, and posted this on their Facebook page, though it’s unclear whether they’ve fired the store manager in question:

“We were appalled by the views expressed by an Icing Store Manager on her personal Facebook account, 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.”

Do you think carrying a 5-year-old child like this is something that deserves to be called out on social media?