Striking mother goes viral as children make a very clean apology
Jessica Stilwell reached her breaking point one night when her husband, Dylan, was out of town on a golfing trip.
The social worker documented how her home became a pigsty as she went on strike and the pictures have gone viral.
Her girls, twins, age 10, and her oldest, age 12, were not picking up after themselves. Jessica sat down at 11pm on Oct 1 and it dawned on her the mess surrounding her had not been created by her or her husband.
She didn’t even bother to inform her children she had gone on strike. She just stopped cleaning. Stilwell did update her Facebook status with this message: “This working mom has officially gone on strike within the home! Nothing said, no warning ... updates to follow.”
The house fell into disarray. On day one, dirty plates and clothes were piling up. By day two, she wrote: “Cereal left sitting in milk in the bowl begins to stink much sooner than one would expect.”
On day three, her children began to take notice of their surroundings. Stilwell’s 10-year- old daughter Quinn broke down in tears as she asked her mother to help clean the house.
“Peyton asked me if this was one of my ‘silly mind games’ then proceeded to express her disgust that I am not doing anything for her. My answer, as it has been all week, was an empathetic: ‘I have just been so busy this week my love.’
“Then I walked away and checked to see if my wine fridge was stocked.”
Stilwell took her daughter on a tour of the home, pointing out that none of the mess had been made by the parents. On day six, the strike was officially over. Stilwell got an apology in the form of her daughters cleaning while she relaxed.
Her “mommy strike” is now such an internet hit it has been followed by an army of other under-appreciated mothers.
