A mother has sparked a debate after revealing she took her young child to a heavy metal festival.
Lauren McAuley is a 30-year-old mom from Northern Ireland who was in for a backlash as she revealed she took her 10-month-old baby with her to the UK’s biggest heavy metal party.
While other parents accused the young mom of putting her daughter’s life in danger, defiant Lauren insisted on attending this year’s music festival just like she did in years past.
Not letting motherhood get in the way of much-anticipated festivities, Lauren packed her baby’s bottles and diapers and took the child with her to the four-day festival.
The mother, however, was quickly showered by complaints saying the festival was too loud and not child friendly. People also complained about the alleged dangers her child faced due to heat, large crowds, and “drunk and drugged up idiots.”
“People are just really miserable. You know, you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t. I personally really like spending time with my kid so I don’t have a problem with taking her,” the furious mom said as she slapped back at her critics.
“Some parents like leaving their kids and getting a break, but not everybody has that option.
I could have, but I didn’t want to. There were lots of negative comments from people saying the festival is not ‘child-friendly’ but Download Festival has literally created a child friendly area this year called Mini Moshers where they had baby changing facilities.
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Lauren went on to say that the negative response to her actions left her feeling “annoyed” even though plenty of other festival-goers allegedly applauded her.
“Because it was really hot, she slept through most of it to be honest. She was completely chilled out. She slept through the Metallica set and Bring Me The Horizon set. Bedtime wise she slept from 9:30 pm up until 3 o’clock in the morning, had a feed, then went back to bed until the next morning,” the mom added.
“Lemmy had ear defenders on for the music and copious amounts of sunscreen. I got a really good pram fan so we had no problem at all. I honestly never had one issue.”
McAuley’s response comes after dozens of people called her out and accused her of being a bad mom to her young child.
“I wouldn’t take my dog into that environment and he’d cope a helluva lot better than a baby, so I most certainly wouldn’t take a baby. There are too many drunken/drugged up idiots around to risk a child’s life,” someone wrote.
“I feel like some people just didn’t realize how packed and dangerous download can be, especially for young children,” another said.
A third suggested: “I don’t think anyone’s judging in a malicious way, people are just worried about the safety of a child at a festival. Did witness some dodgy moments where the safety of a child was not upheld, but you do you girl.”
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