Dad's reaction after young boy knocked over a drink goes viral

After his son knocked over a drink what this dad did next will make you stop and think in the future.

Kalynne Marie from Minnesota shared on Facebook a recent experience she witnessed and it has since gone viral.

She wrote, “I just witnessed a boy, maybe about 6 or 7, accidentally spill a slushee everywhere. I’m talking blue and red goop all over the floor, the table, everywhere. The boy looked up at who I assume was his father, and immediately apologized.

“Instead of getting angry, his father just said “Hey, it happens. Let’s go get napkins and I can show you how to clean it up.”

“Then they calmly went to get napkins and then he helped him clean the entire mess. Then, as they were throwing the napkins away, the father said to his son,

“You’re going to be a human being for a long time, and you have such a smart brain that it’s important you learn how to be more aware of what you’re doing. So next time just be sure to pay more attention to your surroundings so accidents like this don’t happen. Accidents like these can be prevented, but it’s still okay if they happen. As long as you take responsibility for your mistakes, the clean up is a breeze.”

“I have no words. That is parenting done right, shared Kalynne.

She later added that she heard the man say, “I know big messes seem overwhelming and you might feel like you can’t do it by yourself, but it’s always okay to ask for help. There is no problem with asking for help when you need it.”

Her post has received over 6000 shares and over 8600 reactions.

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Great job to this dad! Congratulations on raising an awesome kid too.

To be honest I don’t always have the best reaction when something like that happens, I tend to overreact. Our youngest son recently knocked a glass and it smashed all over the restaurant floor – the kind manager just said “Never mind accidents happen” and got on with cleaning up our mess. It is nice when people respond with kindness instead of scowling at you after your child makes a mess.

I am always telling our son to be more aware of what is around him. I like this dads approach!

How would you react in this situation?

Share your comments below

Image via getty

19 Comments

- - mom94125 said
  - 02 Sep 2017
    6:43 pm
yeah it certainly is no big deal! kids are willing to help rectify this as well. treat them kind because one day the tables turn and you will be old and spilling things etc and you would want them to be understanding of your situation lol

- - tessie said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    12:34 pm
What a beautiful way this father had of teaching his child a lesson that he will carry with him throughout his life.

- - june11 said
  - 16 Aug 2017
    12:00 am
I think it depends on the age of the child what reactions some people have.
If the child is older and you know it is definitely deliberate not an accident, you need to “step back” for a moment then ask the person why they did that. An oldr child who deliberately does that needs to know that there is consequences for bad behaviour.

- - mum4107 said
  - 06 Aug 2017
    5:06 am
What an awesome dad.
Way to go

- - nadine_hill said
  - 05 Aug 2017
    8:41 am
Well done that dad!

- - nadine_hill said
  - 05 Aug 2017
    8:40 am
The perfect response! What’s the point in getting angry? Accidents happen! Deal with it in a mature manner and in the context of what it is.

- - Ellen said
  - 05 Aug 2017
    3:57 am
A beautiful response indeed !

- - mom90758 said
  - 04 Aug 2017
    3:35 pm
Oh, so sweet and mature what that dad did. My husband would probably react very similarly!

- - nealsq said
  - 04 Aug 2017
    2:46 pm
my husband goes ballistic whenever there is a spill at home and then i go ballastic at him

- - mom93821 said
  - 04 Aug 2017
    11:03 am
Exactly – accidents happen and handled exactly as it should always be handled.

- - mom94378 said
  - 04 Aug 2017
    9:29 am
Great to get a feel good story about parenting.

- - mom101628 said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    10:03 pm
Fantastic calm father – would that there were more like him. Great lesson learned well by his son.

- - country chick said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    9:00 pm
Great work – Sesame Street has a great song “everyone makes mistakes” which we often sing around our house

- - Bela said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    8:59 pm
As I clicked the link to read this I was praying that his words would be inspiring. This didn’t disappoint 🙂

- - mom260932 said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    8:10 pm
Well done dad. Accidents happen. Who hasn’t knocked over something. Everything is replaceable except your child, please remember that. If you have a low temper threshold then just turn around, count to ten, think of what you should say, then do so. The child probably feels bad enough and most likely frightened, DON’T make this a bad memory for them. Love to you all, Lyn.

- - rachel1970 said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    7:33 pm
Fantastic job Dad

- - mom112217 said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    6:24 pm
What a great dad he is,well done!

- - BellaB said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    3:55 pm
That’s a great response. We try to do hat, but Im afraid exasperation cn sneak in.

- - mom206279 said
  - 03 Aug 2017
    1:35 pm
Dad of the year! We’re an “accidents happen” type of family and try not to make too big a deal unless someone could have gotten hurt.