“Nobody wants to see that.”

Olivia* is a mother of two-year-old quadruplets and has started taking them to swimming lessons several times a week.

“This is their first year taking swim lessons and, at their age, lessons require one-on-one with the child/adult as well as an instructor to teach,” she explained to Reddit.

So me, my husband and two of my husband friends came. Unfortunately, all four children were booked for the same time.”

“No one wants to see it”

In lessons, all the other children have their mothers or carers with them and they all wear shorts or bathing suits, Olivia explains.

“My husband/his friends had shirtless trunks, and I was wearing a pair,” she adds.

While the mother said there was “nothing wrong” and “everything was well covered”, obviously her stomach and back were showing.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal, and I honestly didn’t notice what everyone was wearing until maybe three days later. And it was good because everyone (including me) was modest,” she said.

However, when her children finished their lessons one day last week, and they were all changing to leave, several mothers approached her.

“They said they didn’t want to bring it up earlier to make the classes difficult, but they and several other moms were uncomfortable with the way I was wearing a doublet to class,” she wrote.

“They suggested that if I do another class with my kids here, I cover my belly because no one wants to see it.”

“This,” she says, refers to her stretch marks, of which she has more than average because she had quadruplets.

“I asked them if they had a problem with how my husband/his friends didn’t wear a shirt at all and they said they didn’t care because they didn’t have a ‘baby belly’ like me,” the mother-of-four confessed. “Now I’m back home and I can’t decide if they were being rude or just being honest. They made sure to tell me it wasn’t about modesty. It was just my stomach. I never thought about it, so maybe it’s my fault that I’m carefree and don’t think about everyone else. My husband says I was fine, but not all mothers out there seem to think so?”

“They are insecure”

The top comment, with 14,000 likes, read: “NTA — they sure were rude.

“Does everyone have to cover every part of the body that is different/damaged/unusual? “We were very uncomfortable seeing your burn wounds and your face, so wear a burqa, hood or stay home. Think of the children!’ or ‘We know not everyone wears dark sunglasses or eye patches, but being blind, your eyes are kind of creepy and it bothers me. Thank you!’ or ‘Yeah, being fat while swimming your two-year-old just makes me feel bad because I’m afraid of getting fat, and even if you wear a prison suit while swimming, I can see your double chin and arm pits and those are sick, so please dispose of your body as soon as possible. Thank you!’”

And another person reassured the mom, saying, “What you don’t like (or resist) in others is often a reflection of what you don’t like in yourself, whether it’s warranted or not. When we look deeper into their grossness, it’s clear that moms are body conscious.

“They’re scared of OP for being confident enough to let her stomach show. They wish they could. OP’s presence in the two-piece, especially when she’s accompanied by a crowd of men, puts her confidence and their insecurities in the spotlight.”

And a third called out a cruel irony. “It’s crazy that it was the mother who said that. I’m sure they have a few stretch marks of their own, having had a baby or two as well. Having an apron belly is normal if you’ve had a baby. They just absorb.”

“I would find every possible opportunity to show my stretch marks to those women if I saw them again after this,” suggested a fourth user.