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A mom faced criticism after admitting she had her kids pay for their own McDonald’s meals with the money they had received as Christmas presents. 

Many people were critical of Mom Kate’s parenting choice, which quickly turned into a debate over how wrong it was to make her kids pay for their own meals. However, Kate stood by her decision and defended her actions despite the influx of differing opinions.

A mom defended her decision to make her kids pay for their McDonald’s with their Christmas money.

“Yes, they eat McDonald’s. Yes, I made them pay for it with their own money they got for Christmas,” Kate wrote in overlay text in her initial video. In the comments section, people were quite brutal about their thoughts.

Some accused her of being incredibly cheap, claiming that since she chose to have kids, she should be more than willing to pay for their meals. What started as Kate sharing a simple parenting moment quickly turned into people piling on her. However, Kate refused to back down and posted a follow-up video in which she explained her actions and addressed the hate she had received.

“Children brought themselves McDonald’s, and people are mad about it,” Kate pointed out. “A little bit of context. We were just about to start cooking dinner, and they asked for McDonald’s. And I said, ‘Guys, it’s just been Christmas. You’ve had a lot recently. If you want McDonald’s, you got some money for Christmas.'”

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Kate explained that her way of teaching them anything is to give them freedom to make their own choices.

She pointed out that her kids are homeschooled, and so her way of teaching them about things, especially money, is to allow them to make their own decisions. She was more than happy to get them McDonald’s, but since they were asking while she was cooking dinner, she felt the best solution was for them to pay.

The lesson, ultimately, was that they could have the dinner she cooked, or they could buy their own. That sounds like a pretty solid lesson. Kate admitted that it’s not her job to dictate how their money should be spent.

“They chose what they wanted to spend their money on. They had fun doing it. So I really just can’t understand what the problem is. It was also a learning opportunity for them. They ordered the meal, they paid for the meal, they counted their change, they carried the tray, they ate everything that was there.”

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The best way to teach kids about money is to let them have some control over their spending.

Evgeny Atamanenko | Shutterstock

“The most important lesson a parent can teach is managing different buckets of money — how some should go into savings, some into spending, and some into giving back. And in the spending category, there are necessities of life and fun things to do,” explained relationship expert Beverly D. Flaxington. “Teach children how to allocate a small amount for fun, so work isn’t just to pay the bills.”

It’s the reason why parents give their kids allowances. Sometimes the best way to teach them about money is to let them actually use it. Not just talking about it, but allowing them to make real choices. Sometimes those will be good choices and sometimes they won’t, but that’s exactly how kids learn. 

A low-stakes situation, such as spending their money on fast food, is probably the perfect example, and Kate shouldn’t be subjected to ridicule for wanting to implement these lessons in her kids from an early age.

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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.