Chivalry is Alive: Mom Shares Pic of Her Son Picking Up the Check on a Monthly ‘Date’

06 Jan, 2016 by Cassy Fiano

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How can we raise a better generation of children? One mom has a brilliant idea, and that’s to go on monthly “dates” with her son where he even picks up the tab.

Former 16 and Pregnant star Nikkole Pulun, 22, who lives in Michigan and gave birth to her son on the show, revealed on Facebook this week that once a month, she and eldest child Lyle go on a ‘date’.

Nikkole also shared that the little gentleman makes sure to pay for the meal out of his own allowance – which he pulls out of his superhero wallet – explaining that she likes to take the opportunity during the mother-son outing to teach him chivalry, table manners, and even how to calculate a tip.

‘As a woman who has been abused and treated like c**p in the past, it’s extremely important to me that I teach my son how to show respect,’ she wrote in the post, which has since been liked over 2.8 million times.

‘Too many men these days have no idea how to treat women or how to take them on a nice date,’ she added. ‘It’s nice to know my son won’t be one of them.’

To ensure that, the mother-son duo leave Nikkole’s five-month-old daughter Ellie at home once a month and head to a restaurant for a nice meal.

‘He opens doors for me, pulls out my chair, talks about his day, and asks me how mine was,’ Nikkole explained. ‘We put our phone and iPad away… and sit and talk to each other about our days, things we want to do, etc.’

While they eat, she continues to teach him how to behave while out at a restaurant – whether he’s on a date or otherwise. One of those important behaviors is giving his undivided attention to the person he’s with, not getting distracted by phones or other electronics.

‘I’m teaching him proper table manners and that it’s rude to sit on your phone on a date with your mom or with anyone else,’ Nikkole wrote.

Then, when they finish up, Lyle pays the bill with money he earned by doing chores around the house. It’s likely not much – the picture Nikkole posted shows that Lyle spent some time coloring on a children’s menu at the establishment where they had dinner – but he has enough to cover the food, tax, and tip.

He knows to save enough to leave an extra 15 per cent for the waitress – something Nikkole is teaching him how to calculate on his own.

This way, she said, ‘he learns the value of money and how to manage it. He [also] learns how to do math.’

But most importantly, she explained, the whole exercise helps him learn how to respect women – something that certainly hits home for Nikkole, who first found out she was pregnant at 15, and experienced another unplanned pregnancy last year.

The father of baby Ellie, whom she met when she was 20, was an alcoholic. The day before she learned she was expecting, they got into a fight so bad that she was ‘thrown into a wall’. She wants to make sure that Lyle never goes down that path – that instead, he grows into a kind, loving man.

‘By doing this I am teaching him how to treat a lady and how to take her on a proper date. How to show that he respects the woman he loves (right now that would be mommy),’ she explained.

‘Yes he is young, but I believe this is something he should learn now. It’s never too early to teach your child how to properly respect others, especially women,’ she added.

Children won’t learn chivalry, manners, and respect unless we, as parents, teach it to them. Looks like this mom discovered a fun way to do just that!