Every day brings new challenges as a parent and sometimes you just need a quiet moment alone to reward yourself for raising a child.
One mum has divided opinions online after she admitted to ordering a takeaway on an evening while her young kids were tucked up in bed.
The woman's ex-husband has called her a 'bad mother' and kicked up a fuss, but many fellow parents have backed her decision to treat herself.
Writing on her Reddit post, the mum said: "Occasionally when my four children go to bed, I'll order myself a little something from Uber Eats or DoorDash after a hard day so I don't have to share with the kiddos.
"Usually since I'm always the first one to wake up, I'll put the packaging beside the indoor trash can and take it out to the outdoor trash can in the morning."
But on this one occasion, the woman's children woke up first and saw her takeout food packaging left on the side.
They asked if they could have some, to which she explained there was none left and she'd eaten it all the night before.
After she dropped her children off at their dad's house, she received numerous messages from him criticising her.
"My children's father ended up spamming my phone with text messages accusing me of misappropriating my children funds he sends every month," she explained.
"[He] gives me $100 (£81) for each child a month, which when it comes to it isn't much, but I'm fine with it because he usually makes up for it by buying the children what they need when an issue arises."
The mum, who works as a day care worker, uses her own hard-earned money to pay for her takeaway food.
"He also accused me of being a bad mother because I'd rather order food for just myself without thinking of my children," she said.
"I had a really bad day that day and just wanted to do something to cheer myself up and sometimes food does the trick for me.
"If I were to order something for everyone it would've cost a whole lot of money that I wasn't interested in spending, and if I were to share, by the time my food got back to me it would've just been the food wrapper."
Her post was met with thousands of upvotes and dozens of comments from fellow parents who agreed to eating treats behind their kids' backs.
"Don't like 100 percent of parents hide in their closet to eat some M&Ms because they don't want to share the one selfish treat they got that week?" one person said.
"I have stuff hidden from my husband, not just the kids," another wrote.
"In what world are mothers not supposed to eat independently? The idea that a mom can't eat unless her children are eating along with her is ludicrous," a third commented.
"It's completely normal and acceptable to treat yourself once in a while to something you don't share," a fourth said.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
