Lovely photo. That's the first thing I thought when I saw the image Rachel Kolisi had posted of herself with daughter Keziah to her Instagram account. And then I read the comments and thought "oh no, why didn't she disable them?"
The photo in question is that of Kolisi sharing a tender moment with two-year-old Keziah with the caption "She finally let me straighten her hair." It didn't take long for the criticism to start after reading just three comments in - I gave up after realising that more than 1 200 people had responded to the photo.
While most users offered words of encouragement and commented on how beautiful they look, there were those who questioned why she would put heat on her daughter's hair. It didn't take long for just one comment to set Kolisi off with a spicy clap back of her own. But this time I could see why she felt the need to retaliate.
A few years back Kim Kardashian West got judged for straightening North's hair at about the same age. Kardashian West, who doesn't normally entertain trolls, felt the need to respond and said she only does it once a year and on special occasions.
Unlike others, Rachel Kolisi lives her life under constant scrutiny and criticism, and instead of keeping quiet she chooses to hit back. Sometimes it doesn't work in her favour.
View this post on Instagram
She finally let me straighten her hair 😍 And my hair is seriously missing @howehair
A post shared by Rachel Kolisi(@rachel_kolisi) on Apr 16, 2020 at 5:18am PDT
But this time it must have been especially hard for her. As a mother of four, she's doing the best she can, and for others to question her parenting ability, well, that's just unfair. As mothers, we're especially hard on ourselves. When it comes to other mothers who judge us, that's where it hurts the most.
We don't know the context of the photo. Maybe Keziah had begged her mom to straighten her hair. Maybe the two had been playing around with their hair.
We're in the middle of a global pandemic, people are dying. Let's focus our concentration somewhere else instead of Rachel Kolisi straightening her daughter's hair. And instead of criticizing each other, why not support other mothers with words of encouragement?
My advice to her? Disable the comments section on your social media for your piece of mind and mental wellbeing.