Mom lists crucial things people should never do when approached by Girl Scouts selling cookies

The most vulnerable period of a human's life is childhood. The thoughts absorbed during this time stay with individuals for the rest of their lives. Therefore, Nicole Romanella O'Neal— a millennial mom who goes by @mondaydieter on Instagram—urged people to keep their negative thoughts about food away from children. It is the season for Girl Scouts to spread joy with their delicious cookies, as they are going door to door to sell cookies and collect funds for their organization. The devoted girls diligently study up on their cookies to answer all possible customer questions. They look forward to a great experience, but some opinions by careless customers can give them the insecurity of a lifetime. In O'Neal's post, she shares a list of behaviors and conversations adults should not partake in with Girl Scouts when they are selling cookies.

In her post, O'Neal shares why girls at such a young age shouldn't be subjected to such negative thoughts about their bodies. She wrote in the caption, "Our girls are simply trying to sell you cookies. They shouldn't worry about the calories of the cookies, the diet the person they're selling to is on, or the body flaw that’s causing a person not to purchase." They are not there to listen to grown adults talk about their own insecurities. Such situations make it easy for these young girls to adopt new insecurities. 

As per the Do Something organization, 58% of college-aged girls feel pressured to be of a certain weight. From a young age, women in the present generation have been exposed to unrealistic standards, which have created a negative impact on their minds. Adults have a moral responsibility not to repeat the same mistake with children. O'Neal elucidated in her caption, "Diet and body shame is learned. Please, please be aware of this when you're approached." In the post, she requested customers not to communicate their tales of insecurity and paint food in a bad light while interacting with children. 

Everyone is free to purchase whatever they want and if they feel the cookies are not good for their health, they should definitely skip them. But, their verbal reasoning should consider that there are young girls on the other side who are very impressionable. In her post, she creates a list of dos and don'ts in such a situation. She asked people not to "mention your diet, talk about calories, point out your body flaws and ask which cookies are the healthiest" during such transactions. Instead, the woman requests them to approach the situation with empathy. She concluded her post with, "A simple no thank you is completely acceptable. In fact, it’s perfect."

Many in the comments section agreed with her assertion about protecting little girls in such a situation. @nlk917 expressed gratitude towards O'Neal for penning down her thoughts, "Thank you! This is wonderful! @_brittany_easter shared what she does in situations like these and wrote, "I just simply say 'no thank you, we don’t eat those.'” @bridgettysburg backed Nicole's opinions and commented, "For all the people who think 'I have a right to say whatever I want' and 'they need thicker skin' and that shaming things like sweets will motivate them to eat healthier or be more resilient - I implore you to do some basic reading on psychology and how these tactics actually cause the reverse."