After a bounty of success in creating an online, judgement-free community for Long Island mothers, Bad Moms of Long Island is celebrating its third anniversary this August. Created by Long Island mom Jesse Curatolo in 2018, the page has seen booming success and support since its inception.

When Curatolo had her daughter just over three years ago, she took to local mom Facebook groups to gain the sense of community she felt a lack of as a single mom and the only mom in her friend group. Unfortunately, she noticed a general sense of hostility and judgement in many of the groups she joined. This, she says, is what led her to branch out on her own to create Bad Moms of Long Island.

“The purpose was to create a mom group that was judgement free... There are local mom groups that can be very judgy, where women get attacked regularly for parenting and lifestyle choices like whether or not to breastfeed, whether or not to swaddle your baby, and those kinds of things,” Curatolo said. “I found it was just a very aggressive and judgemental place, so I created Bad Moms-- obviously inspired by the movie-- to show it's okay to do things for you, because I think so many women get lost in putting motherhood before themselves. You can’t fill everyone else's cup if yours is half empty.”

The mission of Bad Moms of Long Island has since seemed to resonate with many moms; in the page’s almost three years of operation, it has amassed a membership of 27,000 moms who actively engage with the page, whether it be asking questions, posting funny content, or having a conversation with other members. Curatolo says the page saw a big spike in members after it appeared on Good Morning America.

Curatolo values the openness, honesty, and lack of judgement on her page. Moms are encouraged to reach out with questions or comments for the rest of the community, and even have the option to post anonymously.

“It’s all very judgement-free, and if someone breaks that rule, we eliminate it immediately,” she said. She maintains this standard with the help of a group of volunteers that moderate page activity to weed out content that might go against the guidelines and mission of the page.

What Curatolo takes pride in most are the self love and friendships the page has helped to facilitate over the years.

“We started the group at the end of August 2018 and had our first event that September, because people were expressing how they wanted to meet up and meet people,” she said.

“The amount of friendships that have formed as a result of this group since then is so amazing… The whole point of doing these events is giving moms a reason to do something for themselves. Moms sometimes stop doing things for them, and I think that’s a mistake. Self care is essential to being happy, so that’s what we encourage.”

Just over a month ago, the unfortunate and unprecedented deactivation of the page by Facebook took Curatolo and Bad Moms members by surprise. She says she is working to get it back and is hopeful for its return, but in the meantime has created a backup page. In the six weeks that it’s been up and running, the backup page has amassed 11,000 members already.

“I think that really just speaks to how important the page and group is to people, that they found that this is a really safe place where they can laugh and be themselves. It’s really humbling and heartwarming,” she said.

Despite the small bump in the road, Bad Moms of Long Island is excited to celebrate their third anniversary with their fellow Long Island moms on Saturday, August 14. The celebration will be a beach party with a DJ, food, drinks, raffles and more, and will be held at Katch at Tanner Park in Lindenhurst.

The celebration is a private event for members only and moms only. If you qualify under those categories, be sure to purchase your ticket to the celebration here! Follow the Bad Moms of Long Island Instagram for more information and other updates.