Mom sends her 7-year-old to order dinner at Chick-fil-A by himself — and it's a key parenting lesson

In this generation, when everything is just a click away, one mom decided to take the old-school way to help build her child’s confidence. Based in Utah, Stephanie Reed, a mom of five, took on a family challenge that required each of her kids to take on a task independently without her supervision. While she was fairly worried for her other children, her heart was in her mouth when it came to her 7-year-old son, Wells. The little boy was sent to order a Chick-fil-A dinner all by himself while his mother waited in the car. In a viral snippet, initially shared to her Instagram page, @stephanie_reed_, the mom explained her nail-biting experience as her son headed off to order alone. The video with 17.8 million views was reshared to the page @saltproject.co. 

Reed began her video with a glimpse of her son walking into the store. She shared that she read The Anxious Generation, the 2024 bestseller by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. At the end, the book encouraged families to assign their children with age-appropriate tasks to be completed solely by themselves. This meant no phones, no parents, and no active guidance. “So, all of my kids came up with an idea they wanted to do, that they could do alone,” she said. Determined to do so, Wells decided he wanted to order from Chick-fil-A alone. “I gave him some money and just we rehearsed, like, what to say and if anyone gives him a hard time, to ask for the manager,” Reed explained.

While she waited, the mom expressed her concerns about the “worst part” of this challenge. Even though the kid was trained for the task, Reed said not getting to watch her son scale the brave task was rather disheartening. “I can see like if he was gonna go do something confidently, I was in there. I could see him ordering, or even if the blinds weren’t shut and I could just peek in and see him…No phone, no way to communicate with me. I can’t see if he’s in trouble,” the mom admitted.

The next moment, her 7-year-old walks up to the car with his hands full, smiling at his mom. “I didn’t have to ask the mannequin or anything. He just gave it to me,” Wells exclaimed in a cheery voice. His mom was surprised that her boy got the order correct and even got the change back. 

Meanwhile, Wells was thrilled and said, “I want to do that again. Yeah, that is so fun.” When his mom asked if he was nervous, the kid confessed that his legs were “still shivering” from the task. Regardless, he managed to even get a drink upgrade for his mom. Earlier, the mom recalled how her son, Lock, ten at the time, was returned from a store empty-handed after she sent him to get some milk. Wells seemed to have seized the day and his challenge with his smart moves. In the post’s caption, Reed penned down her thoughts on the book that unveils the reality of exposing children to screens at an early age and ruining their childhood. Additionally, kids don’t get phones until 15 and social media until they are 18 at the Reeds' home. 

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