"So... I am the meanest mom ever... Like... Ever."






Have you ever been out with your kids and they just act like they don't know how to act? How many times have you gone into a Chuck E Cheese and they not want to leave, so they throw a fit? How many times have they gone out to eat and not interacted with their waiter/ess? Do they always say please and thank you? Or they get their goodies and go about their business?...like I see so many kids do?
Jamie Sullivan posted about taking her kids to get ice cream and them not thanking the server. So she did what I probably would have done, threw the ice cream out. 
So take a minute and read the post below.
Is it too harsh? 

From Jamie Sullivan's Facebook Post:
So... I am the meanest mom ever... Like... Ever.



Took the kids to Dairy Queen after dinner. They ordered their dessert choices and we waited about 5 minutes for them to call out our number. The young lady (maybe 17) handed each child their ice cream. Not one looked her in the eye. Not one said thank you. Not to her, not to me... So I waited. I counted to 10
in my head as they dug into their ice cream and the young lady just looked at me (probably because she thought I was hearing voices) and I watched as my children strolled out the door. I followed them outside where I calmly collected their ice creams and my kids watched in horror as I deposited them into the nearby garbage can. All 3 launched into mass hysteria. I waited. Quiet. Calm. When they realized I had something to say, they quieted down.
I explained that one day, if they were lucky, they would work a job like that young lady. And I would hope that people would see them. Really see them. Look them in the eye and say thank you. We are too old at 8/7/5 to move through our days without exercising manners and honestly basic human decency.
So today, I am the meanest mom in the world.
After reading from her original Facebook post I saw some of the comments saying it was too harsh. She could have "made the kids go back in and say something," or "taken them home to deal with it." And I see people saying it was perfect. Some of them work in the restaurant or fast food industry, saying "thank you for instilling into your children manners and plain human decency," and "this is how every parent should conduct themselves."

I agree with that she did and how she did it. She gave them enough time, while getting their ice cream to walking out and waiting 10 seconds, to say thank you or have a nice day, something. I think making them go back in and say thank you takes away from the lesson. Making them go back in and say thank you just tells them to do what mommy says. It does not teach them to do this on their own. It teaches them to do whatever they need to get out of the situation. If nothing else it will teach them to pay more attention to what they do when moms around. It does not teach them to do things on their own.
I say more parents should react this way when their kids are not being mindful of the service they are getting.


What would you have done?

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