Apparently a great many of Audrey Roloff‘s one million Instagram followers are very passionate about water safety because they came for the mother of two after she shared new photos. The Little People, Big World alum uploaded images of her husband, Jeremy Roloff, and their kids Ember and Bode enjoying some fun in the sun on a boat.
It was all fine and dandy until the reality star shared an image to her IG stories that showed two children, one of whom was her two-year-old, without lifejackets in a canoe. Fans commented on the photo and have been mom-shaming Audrey on Reddit for being irresponsible.
Audrey posted seemingly innocent videos and photos of her and her kids on the lake.
In the first gallery-style Instagram post, Audrey shared images of her two kids wearing lifejackets and looking rather safe. In a lengthy caption for the post, the star wrote about the importance of creating family memories and spending time together. She wrote, in part:
“The kind of family fun that embraces the stressful moments for the sake of the memories, allows us to enjoy God’s creation together, let’s us be physically active together, gives us opportunities to cheer each other on and challenge each other to try new things, invites us to be fully present with each other while confined to a small space, and ends up in their ‘thank you for…’ prayers at night.”
Everything was kosher until she uploaded an image to her IG stories and unleashed the fury.
The photo she shared showed Jeremy paddling a canoe with two children aboard. The issue? The kids were not wearing lifejackets for the voyage. The backlash she received prompted her to post another image with the caption: “Everyone coming AT ME about life jackets. This little stream is only a foot deep and they stayed here the whole time. Be calm.”
The fine people of the internet were not calm.
Fans took to Reddit to discuss how irresponsible the mom of two was being.
The Hollywood Gossip pointed out, fans quickly weighed in on how dangerous even a foot of water can be. They lit up Reddit. After all, an accident can happen in a second.
“If you ever LOST YOUR CHILD in a drowning you would have to look back [sic] and these and see how ignorant you were,” wrote one upset individual.
RELATED: Michael Phelps, Son And PAW Patrol Teach Kids About Water Safety
Added another: “This is terrifying. She needs to have respect [for] how dangerous and strong water can be.”
“Even myself a 26-year-old woman, who’s been around water my who [sic] life I always wear a life jacket when kayaking, boating, or tubing,” someone else added.
“As a former lifeguard we were taught ‘you can drown in a bowl of soup’ as a way to explain that it doesn’t take much for a child (or inexperienced adult) to drown,” said one of the comments. “She is an absolute idiot. I don’t wish harm to her but I hope this is a wake up call for her fake ‘free spirit’ lifestyle.”
Audrey eventually deleted the photo of the canoe.
We’re sure Audrey and Jeremy did not intentionally put their children in harm’s way. However, we hope the couple did take some of the comments to heart. While mom-shaming is inexcusable, there was some truth in the comments. Water safety is no joke! The minute it takes to strap a kid into a lifejacket is worth it. It could save a life.
We just question why Audrey caught all the heat while Jeremy was the one in the canoe with the kids. We understand she posted the photo, but Jeremy is active on social media as well. Just saying.