I was reported to social services because of a TikTok I posted

"I knew it was going to come... but I didn't expect it so soon."

A mum received a knock on the door one evening, and what happened next traumatised her.

Nicole Austin, 25, regularly shares clips of her house looking messy to highlight the challenges of keeping the house tidy with four kids.

She didn't expect her "side hustle" would backfire, but it did: when police officers arrived at her house to check on the family's welfare.

Some viewers had reported her for the state of her home - which they claimed was child neglect.

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Mother of four has police called on her for neglect. Source: TikTok

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"It was traumatising"

 "It was traumatising. It was horrific. I was so scared and so upset and so shaken," Nicole shares in her video after the incident. 

She said she opened the door at 8 pm just as her children drifted off to sleep, only to find the officers standing there asking to do a wellness check. 

"None of my children went to bed until gone 10 pm on a school night because the police were in our house.

"They had to check our cupboards and fridge to make sure that we had food in the house. After all of that and having to speak to the kids - they were here for around two hours!"

She also shared that this isn't the first time her home has been "raided" - unfortunately, there had been domestic violence incidents in the past.

So the presence of the police in her home was very triggering. 

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"I knew it was going to come"

Nicole was so distraught, she wondered where we draw the line regarding trolling.

In the clip that started this all, Nicole took viewers around her two-bedroom government house, showing that laundry covered the entire hallway and boxes of toys were thrown across the front room.

There was a large amount of backlash to what viewers saw.

Nicole said this week: "I knew it was going to come, but I didn't expect it so soon. I was taken aback a bit. Even though I expected it, it was still scary, as you can imagine.

"I do content creation as a job so I was panicking that the police may ask me to stop."

After a two-hour visit, the police determined that the claims were unfounded and apologised for turning up at night out of the blue.

The mum concluded: "We had some comments from trolls saying they would report us. We replied to them to let them know that our house isn't always this messy and that the kids were fine."

"But days later, we got a call saying that social services had had a referral for child neglect.

"The social worker was great and told us that if we needed any help in the future, we could call them, and then they closed the case."

"Finally! A true video"

Many parents took to the comments to show their support and thanked Nicole for sharing the reality of real life with kids.

One wrote, "Finally! A true video. It's so refreshing to see a house how they actually get... and not the whole come and clean this crumb off my kitchen side with me."

Another commented: "People don’t understand how quick it gets like this when you’ve got kids!! Let alone struggling with Mental Health! Please don’t feel bad you’re doing so well."

This viewer was also empathetic, writing, "Sometimes things get messy. You don’t have to explain to anyone. It’s your home." 

Meanwhile, a fourth said, "This makes me feel so much better. I thought it was just me, but my anxiety sometimes gives me no motivation. You’re so brave showing this."

Finally, this parent had this to say: "It’s so easily done when you’re struggling, it’s god damn hard. I’m exactly the same. Thank you for being so transparent."

Originally published as I was reported to social services because of a TikTok I posted