Parents Are Supporting Mom Who Posted About Her Son Not Sharing

From a young age most of us try to teach our kids to share because that is what we are taught is the right and “kind” thing to do. However, one mom disagrees and after posting on Facebook about her son not sharing, her post has gone viral and what may surprise you is that many parents are supporting her decision. In fact, many parents are agreeing with her and saying they are rethinking the strategy they are teaching their children when it comes to sharing. Before you allow yourself to get upset behind this idea, you’ll want to check out the moms reasoning… Here is what the mom had to say when posting on Facebook:

“MY CHILD IS NOT REQUIRED TO SHARE WITH YOURS. As soon as we walked in the park, Carson was approached by at least 6 boys, all at once demanding that he share his transformer, Minecraft figure, and truck. He was visibly overwhelmed and clutched them to his chest as the boys reached for them. He looked at me. “You can tell them no, Carson,” I said. “Just say no. You don’t have to say anything else.” Of course, as soon as he said no, the boys ran to tattle to me that he was not sharing. I said, “He doesn’t have to share with you. He said no. If he wants to share, he will.” That got me some dirty looks from other parents.”

She went on to say:

“Here is the thing though: If I, an adult, walked into the park eating a sandwich, am I required to share my sandwich with strangers in the park? No!  Would any well-mannered adult, a stranger, reach out to help themselves to my sandwich, and get huffy if I pulled it away? No again.  So really, while you’re giving me dirty looks, presumably thinking my son and I are rude, whose manners are lacking here? The person reluctant to give his 3 toys away to 6 strangers, or the 6 strangers demanding to be given something that doesn’t belong to them, even when the owner is obviously uncomfortable? The goal is to teach our children how to function as adults. While I do know some adults who clearly never learned how to share as children, I know far more who don’t know how to say no to people, or how to set boundaries, or how to practice self-care. Myself included. In any case, Carson only brought the toys to share with my friend’s little girl, who we were meeting at the park. He only didn’t want to share with the greedy boys because he was excited to surprise her with them. The next time your snowflake runs to you, upset that another child isn’t sharing, please remember that we don’t live in a world where it’s conducive to give up everything you have to anyone just because they said so, and I’m not going to teach my kid that that’s the way it works?”

  While this was posted 2 years ago, the story sparked conversation once again over on Reddit where parents are expressing their personal opinions regarding the matter. Some are responding saying: While others are saying things like: For the most part, reddit users and fellow parents agree with the mom and are even saying they are changing their rules when it comes to sharing. Honestly, I can’t say that I blame them. I think the phrase “sharing is caring” is something made back in the day when times were easier and maybe people were friendlier. Now days we fear our kids talking to strangers or being even remotely close to them to even be able to “share” their belongings with them. I think sharing among friends and family is a great trait to teach your kids but beyond that, is unnecessary.  Strangers are strangers for a reason, we don’t know them, their character or their intentions and I think that rule can totally apply in situations like this. Yes, even with young kids, we can’t assume they’ll return an item our kid shares with them, right? I am curious to hear what other parents think though! What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with this mom?