It can be hard to be a firm parent in a society where hurt feelings are more important than enforcing behavior and teaching moral values. All over the web, you see stories of how parents are expected to treat their children. You can’t spank, you can’t yell, and God forbid you tell your kids “no” anymore.
But one mother is here to refresh your world view with an unapologetic application of some good, old-fashioned parenting.
After Jaime Primak Sullivan, star of Bravo’s “Jersey Belle,” watched her kids totally forget their manners, she taught them a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.
Sullivan recounted the story in a post to Facebook, explaining that she took her three children out for ice cream at a Dairy Queen in Birmingham, Ala.
“They ordered their dessert choices and we waited about five minutes for them to call out our number,” Sullivan wrote in the post. “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.”
Sullivan's mind was made up when her kids strolled straight out the door without a thought. So she simply followed them out, calmly gathered their ice cream and quickly threw it all in the closest trash bin.
She waited for the hysteria to die down before explaining to them that they might one day work a job like the young woman who made their ice cream and, when they did, she hoped people would treat them with manners and respect.
“[The children] are too old at 8/7/5 to move through [their] days without exercising manners and honestly basic human decency," Sullivan said, adding, “So today, I am the meanest mom in the world.”
Sullivan's post drew a slew of negative comments, accusing her of being “harsh” and even “cruel.” So, Sullivan responded with a video. Check out her response here: