A social media post shared by a mother in Missouri, U.S., has gone viral this month, after it sparked a debate on the subject of sharing.
Alanya Kolberg took to Facebook to send a message to other parents: that her son was not required to share with other children in the park.
Talking about her son being approached by six boys who demanded he share his toys with them, Alanya wrote: “‘You can tell them no, Carson,’ I said. ‘Just say no. You don’t have to say anything else’,” she wrote on Facebook.
“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.’
“In any case, Carson only brought the toys to share with my friend’s little girl, who we were meeting at the park,” she wrote. “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.”
Alanya admitted that she received some dirty looks from other parents when she told her son he didn’t need to hand over his possessions, but equated the situation to an adult one.
“If I, an adult, walked into the park eating a sandwich, am I required to share my sandwich with strangers in the park? No!
“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 three 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 post has been shared over 220,000 times, and has hundreds of comments.
“There’s a difference between self-care and pure selfishness,” another posted. “You’re teaching your son to be an unkind adult.”
What’s your view?
