Mom told she 'looked tired' has the best response

By Genevieve Shaw Brown

When an online troll told Melanie Borden she "looked tired," she didn't get insulted. Instead, she adopted the critique as a "badge of honor."

Borden, a marketing executive for a luxury auto group, is also a mom of two daughters aged 5 and 7. In a now-viral LinkedIn post she wrote in part, "Yes I am tired. On behalf of everyone everywhere worldwide we are all tired from 2020. Especially working parents."

Borden told "Good Morning America," "I felt that sharing this message was really important for working moms and to shed light on a troll for trying to make me feel bad for how I look. As moms, we are already so hard on ourselves."

In her post, which Borden told "GMA" she received hundreds of messages about, the New Jersey mom called her kids her number-one priority.

"We are doing virtual school again for the second time around this year," she wrote. "Plus the normal parent things outside of a global pandemic like being woken up at night, sick kids, etc. I am very proud of looking tired, I work my tail off as both a mom and employee."

The response to her post has been "very positive and supportive," she told "GMA."

"We judge ourselves and each other for everything from which schools we send our kids to, how we look, and what our career achievements are. We need to be kind to ourselves and each other, this includes over social media. We have to be the leaders for our children who are the next generation and teach them kindness," she said.

After almost a year of isolation, Borden said, people want optimism, positivity and connection with other parents going through what they are going through.

"This year, we are all in the same boat," she told "GMA." "Our kids are home and we are working at home with them trying to figure it out while trying to still be ourselves."

Editor's note: This was originally published on Dec. 29, 2020.