This Little Boy Made a Mess in Target & His Dad Handled It in the Best Way

photo: Kalynne Marie Facebook page

It’s not always easy to make use of life’s teachable moments, especially when you’re an exhausted, sleep-deprived parent, but when you are able to muster the patience, those lemons can often turn into some of your proudest parental moments.

If your kids have ever made a mess in a public place, you’ll understand the struggle one dad faced when his young son spilled a giant slushee in the Starbucks of a Minneapolis Target store. Kalynne Marie witnessed the spill and the super dad’s immediate reaction and couldn’t help but share what she had seen on Facebook. In a post 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.'”

As Kaylnne explains, the dad calmly helped his son cleanup the entire mess, continuing to give him a heartfelt pep talk about being aware of his surroundings as they work. “I know big messes seem overwhelming and you might feel like you can’t do it by yourself,” she overheard him say, “but it’s always okay to ask for help. There is no problem with asking for help when you need it.”

Her post instantly went viral, inspiring responses of similar messy moments from other parents and how they handled it. Most applauded the awesome dad on totally winning at this whole parenting business. Amazingly, a week later Kaylnne ran into the dad at the same Target and was able to snap a picture with him and tell him just how overwhelming the positive response had been to his actions.

What are your thoughts on how this dad handled this sticky situation? Share your own stories in the comments below.