It certainly wasn’t my finest parenting hour.

The adventure began innocently enough. I gathered my kids and grabbed a spare from my precious friend, and together, we headed to McDonalds. Or “Old McDonalds” as my kids refer to it. A trip to OMcD’s is a big deal. There are nuggets, Ranch dipping sauce (a newly discovered delicacy), and a toy. Oh, the toy. California lawmakers, I think you might be on to something, because in my house – or at least with my son – it is ALL about the toy.

  Now, my Avery is a precious child. He’s the kid that has never caused a minute of problem in his life. He’s sweet, good-natured, smart and sensitive. You give him a book and he’ll read for hours. He’s about as close to perfect as a child can be. But, on this day, I saw a side of him that I had NEVER seen before.

  … and it had to do with “the toy”.

  Avery is a marketers dream. If you’re selling it on TV and it costs $19.95, he’s memorizing your phone number. So, when he pulled out the toy from the Happy Meal box, I could tell that he was disappointed by the look on his face.

  It wasn’t the toy that he wanted.

  He finished eating and then asked if I would open the plastic, which I gladly did. After viewing the toy, examining it closer, and trying to work a trade with another child, he decided that he didn’t want that toy after all and asked if he could take it back to the counter and trade it for another one.

  I explained to him that once you open the toy, you can’t trade it. They won’t take back an toy simply because you don’t “like” it. They can’t drop it back in the bin and share it with another child … blah blah blah about germs and other kids not wanting toys that have already been played with.

  To my complete surprise, my reasoning and explanation didn’t work and Avery got mad. Like disgusted mad and it was MY fault. I obviously should have told him BEFORE I opened the package, that if he didn’t like it – he was stuck with it.

  {insert mother mind reading skills}

  “Well, sorry kid. I didn’t know that you wouldn’t like it. Please make the best of the situation and play with the toy. It will be misplaced in the backseat of the car in approximately an hour, so how bad can it be?”

  … and he was TICKED. Mad. Furious, actually.

  This son of mine is 7. I can’t remember ever seeing him throw a fit. It is so far from his nature, I am still in complete shock.

  As I was in the middle of thinking “Who is this kid?” Avery proclaimed “Well, I’m not leaving here until you trade out this toy.”

  OMMMMMG. You did not just say that.

  My first inclination was to take him to the bathroom and spank his tail.But, we had another child with us who was playing with Piper – the two of which were completely oblivious to the entire saga taking place to their left.So, I gave Avery the benefit of the doubt. I thought surely he would come to his senses and reason this out on his own.

  I gave him that option.

  In the meantime, Piper and her BF have finished eating and are now ready to play on the indoor playscape. Thinking that removing us all from this locale is a great idea, I suggest we move to the area right by the playground.

  Avery refuses to move.

  So, I moved to the back. Sent Piper and the BF on their way up the slide and sat by a window were I could see Avery to make sure he didn’t head out the door and begin the life of a runaway. Ohhhh, he was angry.

  After about 5 minutes, I went and got him. I demanded that he come back to the play area. He had carried on this charade too long and now I was starting to get mad. He sat in the booth with me and immediately began talking about “this stupid toy”. {Ahem – we don’t use the word “stupid”.} He went on and on and on.

  I interjected “Avery, I’ve heard enough.”

  “Avery, you need to drop it.”

  “Avery, I’m done with this conversation.”

  … and then I did it. I picked up the truck ..

…………walked to the trash can …..

……………….and threw it away.

  I couldn’t take it anymore.

  Yes, I realize that he is 7, but I absolutely can not tolerate whining and it is something that I won’t put up with – especially when it is done in a spirit of ungratefulness.

  He was surprised, and admittedly, very disappointed. And, actually, I felt bad too. I don’t want to ever hurt is feelings or his spirit, but there is a line and we, as parents, have to define where that line is, keep it consistent, and follow through.

  He went to the trash can and tried to fish it out. (I put an immediate stop to that – yuck.) The truck was gone and I wasn’t going to allow him to have it back. I didn’t try to talk to him about it or have a “parenting moment” in the middle of the restaurant, I could tell he was processing it and that’s what I wanted.

  (Let me also add that this wasn’t a scene. The restaurant wasn’t crowded and I doubt that anyone else in there had ANY idea what was going on.)

  My hope is that this will stay with him. Should the situation happen again {God help us}, I’ll be able to say, “Remember how it turned out in McDonalds with that truck ending up in the trash can? How can we avoid that happening again?”

  What would you have done? Would you have thrown the toy away? I don’t regret my decision, but would love to hear feedback on how you handle appreciation and respect for objects.