Mother of 16 attaches 'not hoarding' sign to shopping cart after she's shamed: 'Be kind or go away'

She says 'we need to keep a sense of humour during these times'

A mother of sixteen children has shared a photo of the sign she uses to defend herself from parent-shamers who shame her for hoarding food while shopping.

As both supermarkets and their customers continue to feel the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, Jeni Bonell, from Queensland, Australia, wanted to make sure that people don’t get the wrong impression when they see her full grocery cart - so she attached a sign explaining her situation.

“Not hoarding, just feeding 16 kids,” the sign reads, according to a picture uploaded to Bonell’s Instagram, where she has more than 5,000 followers. “Be kind or go away please.”

Along with the post, Bonell shared a video, which does not show the sign, of the weekly grocery haul she does for her large family, jokingly explaining while in the car to the store that “this is it, this is all we ever do. Groceries.”

Later in the video, Bonell revealed that, because the store was not imposing limits on certain products, she was able to purchase eight 3-litre bottles of milk, four packets of chicken, and four packages of minced meat, six loaves of bread and six packages of hot cross buns for the family.

The mum also showed off purchases of canned goods, as well as condiments and frozen foods.

According to Bonell, she was only able to buy one package of toilet paper, as the grocery store is still limiting purchases to one per transaction.

Despite following the guidelines, Bonell told The Sun that she has experienced “rude” reactions including “judgey looks” in the grocery store because other customers assume that she is attempting to hoard food.

“This pandemic has brought out the best and worst of people,” she told the outlet. “And unfortunately because we have to always buy large amounts of food due to our family size, people can still be rude in the grocery store.”

According to Bonell, she decided to use the sign, which she explained is a “bit of a joke,” in the hopes that “people might just leave me in peace to do my regular shop”.

“After all, we need to keep a sense of humour during these times. There's enough stress as it is,” she added.

On social media, people have applauded Bonell for the amusing sign, and expressed their sympathy for any negative reactions she’s gotten.

“My dad was one of 14. I get it and sorry you have to go through this! Stay safe,” one person commented.

Another said: “Good on you. People need to mind their own business.”

As for the reactions to the sign, Bonell said it "made a few people laugh".