Mom writes note after overhearing 'mean' girls gossiping

Michelle Icard said that when she overheard some "mean" girls gossiping, she was conflicted about intervening, but ultimately decided to say something. Now the message she wrote to the girls is resonating on social media.

Icard, a parenting author from Charlotte, N.C., was at her local Starbucks when she overheard young teenagers gossiping about their classmates.

"With each new topic I thought, 'This couldn't have been written in a more cliche-mean-girls way by a Hollywood scriptwriter,'" she wrote on her website.

Icard left the store without saying anything, but when she drove by later and saw the girls were still at the coffee shop, she decided to write them a quick note. She said she also bought the girls mini frappuccinos before delivering it.

"You three are obviously pretty and hard-working. I wish your kindness matched your pretty exteriors," she wrote. "You are smart and you are pretty. It would take nothing from you to also be kind."

The post received hundreds of likes and shares, with many commenting that they believe she did the right thing by stepping in.

"I love that you did this! A graceful way to point out behavior in a non-confrontational way," wrote one Facebook user.

"Speaking from the point of view of a former 'girl like that'," another wrote, "it would have been a wake up call to me."

Icard reflected that she wasn't sure whether it was her place to say anything, but she hopes that her note caused at least one of the girls to think about the effect of gossiping.

"And perhaps it's true that I overstepped my bounds," she wrote, "but I have to believe that there is still room in our village for lessons from strangers with good intentions in their heart."

Icard also wrote that, "It has been heartwarming to get letters from so many women across the country telling me they have been on both sides of this equation, or used this story as a spark point for conversations with their daughters."