'Meanest Mom Ever' Wants Kids to Have Manners 'Forever'
This mom's not one bit ashamed of the lesson she taught her kids at Dairy Queen.
— -- When Jaime Primak Sullivan's three kids didn't thank the Dairy Queen employee who served them their ice cream, she decided it was time to teach them a lesson about manners.
And she threw their ice cream in the trash.
In a now-viral Facebook post in which Sullivan refers to herself as the "meanest mom ever," the star of the show "Jersey Belle" is getting praise from parents and restaurant employees alike for her actions.
The post, which has been shared more than 25,000 times, has received praise that includes, "as someone who works in a restaurant and deals with people who ignore me when I ask "how are you?", or sit their money on the counter when I'm holding my hand out for it, or won't even acknowledge me after I say thank you, have a nice day! Thank you. Thank you for instilling into your children manners and plain human decency!"
And "Good job Jaime!!! I want to commend you. You're not a mean Mom. You just taught your children a lesson in life. Kids today seem so ungrateful at times; no appreciation for anything. The lesson you taught your children today they will never ever forget."
But some say they think Sullivan's actions were over the top.
" . . . they'll never enjoy going out for ice cream with their mother again," one commenter said. "She is the one losing out more than the children though. My parents were like this and it made me turn away from them as soon as I was old enough."
Another wrote, "My parents didn't have to go to such harsh measures to get me to be a decent, door-holding, people-thanking person. Like most of people, I learned to be nice because it was the right thing to do, not because I was afraid I'd be harshly punished if I forgot. But hey, to each their own. Some chose to lead by fear, I choose to teach by example."
Sullivan commented in a later-posted video that she "never imagined" the post would get the reaction it did. She said she has, in the past, reminded her three kids, aged 8,7 and 5, to say thank you and even marched them back into an establishment to have them say it to the person who served them. "I've already tried that," she said.
Sullivan called the Dairy Queen incident a "teachable moment."
"I would like my kids to have manners forever," she said. "I would like them to treat people with basic human decency, perhaps even more than basic, forever."
