A young mother has been viciously trolled for having a KFC-themed first birthday photoshoot for her one-year-old daughter.
Kayla Frizzell, a photographer from Victoria’s Shepparton, staged an adorable photoshoot with a large bucket of fried chicken for her ‘mini me’ girl Mia instead of throwing the traditional ‘cake smash’.
Behind the scenes, her baby was already fed with her own lunch before she was given a half-eaten Wicked Wing to play with as her mother captured the candid pictures during the 15-minute photoshoot.
But after sharing the snaps on social media, the 26-year-old mother was bombarded with nasty remarks about the ‘size’ of little Mia, including ‘no wonder your baby is fat’ and one stranger even claimed she reported her to child services.
An Australian mother has staged a KFC-themed first birthday photoshoot for her one-year-old daughter Mia instead of hosting the traditional ‘cake smash’ (pictured)
Mother Kayla Frizzell (pictured) said she was bombarded with nasty remarks about her baby
‘It seriously just annoyed me when she said “no wonder your baby is fat”. I was like how dare you?! So my motherly instincts kicked in,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘But I was really in two minds – was it worth responding and potentially having others read it and think I’m unprofessional, which could then result in loss of clients.
‘Turned out, I was so right to respond. I had the support of so many people near and far behind me. And then the trolls just obviously had nothing better to do, they continued to post abusive messages on my page.’
But the trolling didn’t end there.
‘One troll claimed she works at the Department of Human Services,’ Ms Frizzell said.
‘I found by a quick Facebook search she was actually jobless and never worked their before but even if she did, I was never worried because I love my kids fiercely.
‘They honestly have an incredible childhood, we are always complimented on the incredible adventures, holidays and activities we do with our two kids pre-isolation.
‘The trolls didn’t stop just there, 5pm that night they called me, impersonating a worker from DHS making threats, it became a comedy real quick.’
Behind the scenes, her baby was already fed before she was given a half-eaten wicked wing to play with as her mother captured the candid moments during the 15-minute photoshoot
The mother said the idea to use the fried chicken as ‘props’ in the birthday photoshoot came to mind because she simply loves eating KFC.
‘To put it simply, I love KFC, and my little girl is my “mini me” so all my friends and family expected nothing less than something fun and creative for her first birthday,’ Ms Frizzell told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I’m not into going with the trend, I love to try new things and so when I knew I was going to do a one-year-old shoot for Mia, I decided to just go for my KFC idea.’
She ordered 10 Wicked Wings, two large chips, a bucket of popcorn chicken and nuggets, all coming to a cost of $45.
‘My son was in school so me and my partner were so excited to get to indulge in this feast to feed a family… all to ourselves,’ Ms Frizell said, laughing.
‘While I drove to get it, my partner fed Mia her lunch so she was ready to get her modelling on. I should add that I was starving. I had just finished a shoot in the morning so I wanted to sit down to my bucket of chicken as soon as possible.’
The mother said the idea to use the fried chicken as ‘props’ in the photoshoot came to mind because she simply loves KFC
During the 15-minute shoot, the mother said her daughter had tried to ‘stand up and walk away’ because she ‘wasn’t interested in the food’.
‘She loves taking photos so she kept coming straight to me and the camera – so I pulled out the bathtub and gave her the bucket of chicken,’ she explained.
‘In this time, her father was standing beside me and had already started eating the food which is where the chicken bone image came in because I’m not going to give my child spicy chicken, and wicked wings are my favourite.
‘She ate a couple popcorn chicken, half a nugget and some chips and the rest of the time, she was just curious with feeling the textures on the food, or standing up to rock the bathtub.’
Excited about the pictures, she decided to share them on Facebook – and was met with plenty of positive comments from family and friends.
During the 15-minute shoot, the mother allowed her daughter to play with the fried chicken
‘But then it reached people that lived hours away, and this is where the trolls begun,’ she said.
Despite the backlash, she said the experience has ‘honestly changed me as a mother’.
‘I have found a new strength as a mother and received an incredible amount of love and support,’ she said.
‘If someone is experiencing trolls, especially when it comes to kids, the best advice I can give you is that this negative outburst is not on you or your child.
‘It is a reflection of that troll, they’re maybe sad, lonely, jealous or experiencing something bad and their only outlet is to try and bring others down so that they don’t feel so miserable.
‘So show kindness in return, get them to understand their actions are not OK and honestly the block button is incredible. You keep doing you mama.’