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25th Apr 2016

‘Meanest Mum in the World’ teaches her children a harsh lesson in basic manners

That's one way to remember your 'please' and 'thank yous'

Rebecca Keane

Kids these days have it pretty sweet.

It’s rare that you see a toddler without some sort of device in their teeny little hands to keep them quiet.  Many would argue that children in the Noughties are fairly spoilt.

Teaching children the importance of manners and making them understand the concept of saying ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘excuse me’ is a difficult task.

American woman, Jaime Sullivan, shared a Facebook post detailing how she dealt a lesson of seriously tough love to her three children.

She explained how she brought her kids to Dairy Queen for ice cream and when they failed to thank the waitress, she binned their ice creams – a little harsh, in fairness.

It reads:

“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.”

The poor Sullivan kids will not be forgetting their manners anytime soon.

Too harsh? What way did your parents punish you for misbehaving when you were growing up? Email us [email protected], or message us on our Facebook page.

All images via Facebook