A mother has left thousands of parents divided after she ignored her crying toddler’s demands to share her ice cream. 

Rebecca, from New Zealand, was unfazed as she enjoyed a frozen mango treat while her son had a tantrum because he wanted her to share. 

Many applauded her ‘good parenting’ for not giving in to the ‘spoiled’ four-year-old’s impatient and dramatic demands.

However, others hit back, calling the mother ‘selfish’ for ignoring her child while he was in distress.

On TikTok, Rebecca shared how she had treated her son to an Oreo ice cream as a reward after a trip to the doctor.

She said he ate the whole thing by himself before she had even opened her mango confectionery. 

The toddler, his face smeared with chocolate from his ice cream, began to cry, pleading with his mother to share her dessert as she took a bite of her own frozen delight.

Rebecca chose to disregard his pleas and continued enjoying her treat, while the child grew increasingly upset, afraid that she would finish it without offering him some.

Rebecca, from New Zealand, was unfazed as she enjoyed a frozen mango treat while her son had a tantrum because he wanted her to share

In the last few seconds of the clip, she turned around seemingly to give the crying child a taste of the ice cream. 

She posted two videos of the incident, which collectively racked up a whopping 31.4million views – and sparked a heated debate in the comments. 

‘The way she ignored him healed me,’ one viewer laughed, and another said, ‘Kids getting humbled is the best feeling ever. ‘

‘As a mother, I love when kids don’t get what they want, lmao, how else will they learn?’ a third agreed. 

“Children need to understand from a young age that they aren’t entitled to everything,” commented one person. “I’m sure she asked him multiple times if he wanted the same ice cream, but he insisted on having the Oreo.”

“Some parents must recognize that it’s okay to say no,” another individual shared. “She just bought her son an Oreo ice cream, now she’s having her dessert, and she is not obligated to share because he already had his own, so yeah, she’s in the right.”

Others weren’t impressed with the mother’s behaviour, saying the boy felt ‘excluded’.

‘At least let him try some,’ one woman said, and a second replied: ‘I feel sorry for him.’ 

Many applauded her ‘good parenting’ for not giving in to the ‘spoiled’ four-year-old’s impatient and dramatic demands

The toddler, with chocolate smeared on his face, cried out, wanting his mother to share her ice cream as she continued to ignore him.

She posted two videos of the incident, which collectively racked up a whopping 31.4million views – and sparked a heated debate in the comments

“Kids will be kids. Maybe she should have purchased two mango ice creams, then filmed them enjoying together to prevent such situations,” suggested another commenter.

In response to the wave of divided opinions, Rebecca explained what had happened that day in a follow-up video. 

‘We are allowed ice cream and I included myself because I was a good girl at the doctor’s too,’ she joked.

She said that while at the shop, she asked the four-year-old if he wanted the same ice cream as her, but he insisted on the cookies and cream one. 

‘He eats his walking back to the car, I eat mine in the car, and the rest is history,’ she said. 

‘Then I get home, watched the video again, and it made me laugh, so I decided to post it because I think it shows a fun reality about parents sometimes.’

She explained that as she was finishing the treat, she gave her son the stick with the last little bit of ice cream attached because she wanted to drive home ‘in peace’ and stop him from waking his baby sister, who was sleeping next to him.