When Audrey Loving learned that another woman was tucking her 4-year-old daughter, Riley, into bed at night, she didn’t get jealous. Instead, the mom, based in Newport News, Virginia, wrote her ex’s new girlfriend, Whitney McGraw, a thank-you note.
“Why do all these moms act so spiteful and jealous towards the other woman?” Loving, 24, wrote in a November 14 Facebook post that has since gone viral. “No one said it was easy trying to be a mother to a kid you didn’t have. So when there is someone trying, don’t push them away!”
In Loving’s tribute, she praised McGraw — who she calls “the sweetest thing ever” — for feeding Riley, and reminded other mothers that the more people who love your kid, the better.
Her post was shared on the Love What Matters Facebook page, where it received more than 75,000 likes and more than 2,000 comments.
Loving and Corey Henry amicably split in 2013, when Riley was a year old. “Before Whitney came along, I would always worry when Corey had Riley by himself,” Loving tells Us Weekly. “I would send her to his house with a letter that said, ‘Don’t forget Riley needs a nap time,’ and ‘Don’t let Riley have too much candy.’” But those days are over.
Says Loving: “I just feel so lucky that I don’t have to worry about Riley.”
The certified nursing assistant urges exes to set aside the drama. “There are some sad situations where the husband cheats, and it’s awful,” Loving tells Us. “But you get tougher and make it work for your kids. They’re growing. They’re learning. If we teach them to be hateful and negative, the world will continue to be hateful and negative.”
