A Florida mom has been praised for teaching her ungrateful daughter a lesson after the little girl threw her brand new pencil case in the trash.
Haley Hassell uploaded a ‘long mom rant’ on Facebook, explaining that her six-year-old daughter Presleigh had asked for the popular ‘LOL pencil box’ but changed her mind, tossing it in the garbage.
The hard-working single mom decided to teach Presleigh a ‘tough love lesson,’ donating the item to a kid who would actually appreciate it – and making Presleigh use a less-than stylish plastic bag for her pencils instead.
Lesson: A Florida mom made this less-than-cute ‘pencil case’ for her daughter out of a plastic bag after the six-year-old threw her nice new one in the trash
Learning gratitude: Mom Haley Hassell, pictured, was not impressed by her daughters Presleigh’s behavior
In the post, student nurse Haley said she was ready to surprise Presleigh with the ‘LOL pencil box’, thinking she would be ‘ecstatic’.
Haley clarified that her daughter had initially asked for that pencil case specifically, and she’d gone to three stores to find it.
But the surprise didn’t go as expected.
‘When I surprised her with it, she stared at it and threw it in the trash and slammed the bedroom door. She yelled “that’s stupid, everyone in my class has that…I don’t want it anymore,”’ Haley wrote.
Though she was furious with her daughter, she knew it was an opportunity to make a point.
‘By this time there was probably smoke coming out of my ears and I’m trying real hard not to completely lose it on this kid that I have worked so hard to completely take care of financially on my own [and] make sure she always gets what she needs and then some,’ Haley said.
Trash: Despite asking her mom for the LOL box, and Haley going to three places to find it, the six-year-old threw it away because ‘everyone has it’ in her class
You snooze, you lose: When her mom insisted she’d now use a plastic bag, the little girl wailed and tried to get the nice pencil box back – but her mom refused
‘But I thought I had always taught her to be grateful [and] know how lucky she was but apparently sis needed a small wake up call.’
Haley had the idea to present her daughter with a new pencil case option: a plastic sandwich bag with the words ‘Presleigh’s pencil bag’ scrawled on it.
‘She lost her mind! Suddenly the LOL box she just trashed was good enough and the ziploc bag was horrible…but it’s too late for all that,’ Haley wrote.
The mom then insisted that her daughter fish it out of the trash so they could give it to someone who would appreciate it.
‘[Someone] whose mommy and daddies don’t have money for any school supplies or someone who may not even have a mommy or daddy.
‘I explained to her she’s not entitled to anything special and she is taking for granted how lucky she is,’ Haley continued, as she said she will ‘personally deliver the nice box to a child that could benefit from it’.
Praised: Moms everywhere praised Haley for teaching her daughter an invaluable lesson in the long run
‘Maybe I over react sometimes but I would’ve done anything to have all the things she does as a child. I truly believe changing your perception [and] just being grateful can turn around any situation in life,’ she concluded.
Almost 500 people weighed in on the post in the comments section.
Hard working: Haley’s mom defended her when cruel trolls attacked her online for sharing the crying image
‘Wow now [that] is being a good momma that just taught a child a great value in life thanks,’ said a male user.
‘Yes! You’re doing a outstanding job, I applaud you.I would have done the same thing,’ said another.
‘Good job. Hard lesson but she [will be grateful] next time,’ commended a fellow mom.
Haley’s own mom Sheila took to the comments to say her daughter worked so hard to provide for Presleigh.
Sheila noted that since sharing the now-viral post, cruel trolls had spammed Haley’s inbox with toxic messages about her being a bad mom.
One critic wrote on the pubic post that hundreds of people were likely ‘reacting’ with ‘angry emojis’ for a reason.
‘I would venture to say it’s not over her making her use a ziploc. But more over her blasting her child on Facebook, posting a picture of her upset and crying, embarrassing her. That situation should have been handled in private.’