A viral Facebook post about a 6-year-old boy’s “dinner date” with his mom has prompted both praise and criticism this week as netizens discuss the ethics of the parent’s monthly excursion with her son.
On Jan. 1, Nikkole Paulun, a star of MTV’s reality show “16 and Pregnant,” shared a photo of her son, Lyle, with a post describing their monthly dates.
“Once a month my 6-year-old son takes me out on a dinner date,” she wrote. “He opens doors for me, pulls out my chair, talks about his day & asks me how mine was, pays the bill with money he earned by doing chores, and even tips the waiter/waitress.”
Paulun wrote that she encourages these monthly dates so her son will learn how to properly “treat a lady.”
“By doing this I am teaching him how to treat a lady & how to take her on a proper date. How to show that he respects the woman he loves (right now that would be mommy),” the mom wrote on Facebook. “It's never too early to teach your child how to properly respect others, especially women. As a woman who has been abused & treated like crap in the past, it's extremely important to me that I teach my son how to show respect.”
Paulun’s post has been liked more than 2.8 million times to date, with many netizens lauding the actions of both mom and son.
“I am very proud of your relationship with him… it is very important to teach him these lessons,” wrote Facebook user Rikki Turner.
“This is amazing,” added Jennifer Humphries. “I wish more people would do this with their kids.”
The post has also been met with censure, however.
Some readers have criticized Paulun for instilling chauvinistic values in her son (“Why does the man always have to pay? That’s not a healthy relationship,” wrote Katy Frost on Facebook); while others have questioned the ethics of making a child pay for a meal.
“While this is a lovely idea, I don't like the idea that you make your son spend money he earns by doing chores on taking you for dinner. I get the idea behind it, but it's a little unfair to suggest that unless you make him do that then he'll turn out to be a bad guy when it comes to women,” said Chloe Henry.
Paulun, however, insists that Lyle thoroughly “enjoys” their dinners dates.
“It makes him happy,” Paulun responded to Henry's comment.“I would never force him to do something he didn't want to. He prefers to spend his money doing something special with me than to spend money on toys ... I give him extra money to be able to do this lol having a special day for just us two is something he truly cherishes and looks forward to, as well as using his money to pay the bill.”