A new mom forced to change her baby’s diaper in the trunk of her SUV could not believe what a stranger yelled at her.
Evelynn Bernhardt (@evelynnwhitney) captured the moment on a sweltering summer day when she parked just beyond the bustle of the Mashpee Commons farmers’ market in Massachusetts.
“Picture this,” she wrote in the caption. “It’s a Sunday. You’ve got a 3-month-old, a toddler, and big dreams of a wholesome morning at the farmer’s market. Naturally, there’s no real place to change a diaper—no proper bathroom in sight. So your options? A blanket on the grass… or the trunk of your SUV. I went with the trunk.”
She described being “elbow-deep in a diaper, sweat dripping, trying to hold it together,” when something unexpected happened.
From across the parking lot, a woman leaned out of her car and shouted, “Great job, mama!”
Bernhardt froze and even wondered if the words of encouragement were for her. Sure enough, she turned around to see a woman leaning out of her car and smiling.
“It all happened so quickly that I was honestly taken aback by how much her words meant in that moment,” Bernhardt told Newsweek.
The woman must have been watching her walk from the market to her car, she noted—another quiet reminder that even when moms feel invisible, someone might still be paying attention.
“I thanked her, and I think she could tell how much it touched me because she reiterated her encouragement and even told me, ‘I see you.’ I smiled, and we exchanged a little wave—it was simple but incredibly meaningful,” Bernhardt said.
As a newly postpartum mom, Bernhardt explained in her Instagram caption how she was deep in her feelings all morning as she navigated outings with a newborn and her 3-year-old.
“It’s a whole new phase of life that I’m navigating, filled with gratitude for this season, but also the very real challenges of going from one child to two,” she told Newsweek.
Even small outings feel like a balancing act, she added. “Especially when you’re adjusting to things like stopping to change your baby’s diaper in public again. There’s this added layer of ‘mom guilt’ and second-guessing, wondering if I’m doing the right thing.”
Bernhardt’s experience resonated with moms online. Her reel has clocked up 4.1 million views and hundreds of comments from other users who were also stunned by the stranger’s kind comment.
“Now I’m crying. I was definitely expecting this to be a negative story, but how SWEET!!” one user wrote.
“Yesss to this !! Women supporting women I have been there and the little things like that truly make a difference,” another added.
For other moms who are simply trying their best, Bernhardt advised to give yourself grace.
“This season of life is beautiful, but it’s also overwhelming, and it’s okay to admit that both can be true at the same time,” she said. “Don’t underestimate the power of small wins—like getting out of the house, even if it’s just for a quick trip.”
And if you see another mom in the wild, she added, don’t hold back. Say something.
“Instead of saying, ‘You’ve got your hands full,’ what you could really say is, ‘Good job, mama.’ A simple, ‘You’re doing a great job,’ in passing—no conversation needed—can change her whole week. Maybe even her whole life,” Bernhardt said.
Bernhardt told Newsweek she still thinks about that stranger in the car.
“If, by some chance, the woman who so kindly called out to me in the Mashpee Commons parking lot on Sunday ever sees this, please know how deeply grateful I am for that brief moment in time,” she said.
The post Mom Changes Baby’s Diaper in SUV Trunk—Stunned by What Stranger Yells appeared first on Newsweek.
