Influencers Matt and Abby Howard Cause Controversy By Leaving Two Toddlers Alone on a Cruise

Social media power couple Matt and Abby Howard have been together since high school, but they may be facing the end of a love affair. Not their own, but rather the love affair between the internet and their content.

The couple, who produces the "Unplanned Podcast" has recently stirred major controversy online after admitting to leaving their two toddlers, aged 2 and 12 months, alone while on a cruise.

Although it seems impossible to parent on the internet without receiving criticism, the couple's actions stirred more than your average response from fans and critics alike.

Here's what happened and why the couple seems to be going dark on the entire series of events.

Matt and Abby took to social media to share recent updates on a family vacation. It's fairly typical for influencers to share their vacation moments, so the couple did what most do. However, things didn't exactly go as planned.

Taking toddlers on a cruise is a Herculean task in and of itself. Not only do you have to worry about railings and the potential for a deadly fall, but on a less dangerous note, everyone's out of their routine and familiar surroundings so toddlers are apt to be cranky and demanding.

Therefore it's not surprising that Matt and Abby wanted an evening alone and a moment to breathe as adults without toddlers underfoot. Most cruises offer some sort of drop-in daycare.

But the daycare only works if you use it, and it would seem that Matt and Abby opted not to, which opened an immediate can of worms online.

The couple rarely posts content about their children, and this week's backlash may exemplify why that's been a good decision. According to online screenshots of a post, which has since expired, Matt and Abby sparked fury after they went to dinner one night. Simple enough, right?

Wrong.

The duo went to dinner in one of the ship's dining rooms and they didn't bring their two toddlers along. The sleeping tots were left in their staterooms.

In the since-expired Instagram post, the couple explained that the children had stopped enjoying the daycare, writing, "So we ended up taking them for 5 nights and it became apparent that they weren't enjoying it and therefore we weren't either."

Adding, "So THEN we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and FaceTimed the monitors while we ate. And that worked out muchhhh better for everyone!"

Predictably, the internet erupted. Social media posts blasting their decision popped up immediately. Many users online drew dark parallels between their choice to leave their children alone and what happened to 3-year-old Madeleine McCann in 2007.

Madeleine was left alone in a hotel room with her young siblings in Portugal while her parents dined just 100 feet away. She disappeared that night and still has not been found.

Other users called for Matt and Abby to be canceled, or at least lose their worshipful following. So far, the couple has simply removed any potentially incriminating posts and seem to be keeping a low profile for the time being.

The internet has a short attention span and there is potential for the controversy to blow over. But then again, influencers have been canceled for less.