Home / News / Viral & Trending Mom has a message for fellow parents after daughter was bullied over Stanley cup knock-off dana_motycka/TikTok By Cassandra Stone January 9, 2024 dana_motycka/TikTok Rectangle Stanley cup madness hit an absolute fever pitch last week when a limited-edition winter pink Starbucks version went on sale at Target, causing chaos at stores nationwide. And while the trendy tumbler has been all over TikTok feeds and tween/teen wish lists for a while, it seems kids are now actually being bullied for not having one, as one mom on TikTok explained. Dayna Motycka purchased a (quite adorable) colorful cheetah print insulated tumbler from Walmart as a Christmas gift for her 9-year-old daughter. On the second day back from winter break, Motycka shares that her daughter came home âupsetâ after girls in her grade âmade sure to let her knowâ that she wasnât carrying a ârealâ Stanley cup, and that hers was âfakeâ and ânot as cool.â Related: Chaos ensues at Targets nationwide over coveted âwinter pinkâ Stanley cup In an effort to help their daughter âfit inâ and prevent her from getting made fun of, Motycka and her husband ended up purchasing a Stanley for her, sharing the inherent privilege required for them to even buy such a pricey, hot-ticket item. Sheâs also got a message for parents who arenât nipping this bullying behavior in the bud beforehand. @dayna_motycka I in fact did not keep it short and sweet đ¤Śđźââď¸ apparently needed to get this off my chest! đ¤ˇââď¸ #stanleycups #valentinestanley #targetstanley #parentsteachingkids #parentingtips101 ⏠original sound – Dayna Motycka âDo I think that a nine-year-old needs a Stanley? No. Do I have one? Yes, I have one,â she says. âI donât have 50 Stanleys in all different colors. Iâm not going to Target and fighting other women or moms to try and get the new Valentineâs Day Stanley. I have one.â âCan we afford to buy her a Stanley? Yes. Did I think that she needed one? No,â she continues. âApparently Iâve been proven wrong by the children in our school that are making fun of her for not having a real name-brand Stanley. But this doesnât start with the kids. This starts with us. This starts with parents â with moms. What are we teaching our kids? You better believe that if our nine-year-old daughter came home and somehow we found out that she made fun of another girl at school for not having something name-brand, whether it’s a Stanley, Lululemon, Uggs, etc. We would be calling the family. We would be making her write a note to apologize. We would make her apologize in person because that’s not what we do in this household. And that’s what we need to be teaching our kids.â Motycka explains that she grew up without âname-brand things,â and she was similarly bullied for it, recalling when her mom found her a Limited Too bathing suit at Goodwill. âI felt so good to have that name-brand clothing,â she says. âI know now as an adult that that shouldnât have meant something. But it did, because it made me feel like I fit in.â Acknowledging that she might be judged by fellow parents for buying the name-brand Stanley cup to help her daughter fit in, she hopes other parents can hammer home the message that material items say nothing about your value or worth, especially since not all parents can afford to buy them. Related: Stanleyâs new art deco tumblers are here to give your h2o the glam it deserves âWe have got to teach our kids to not make other kids feel inferior for not having the things that they have. That’s it. That’s where it starts and it starts with us as parents,â she concluded. Other parents shared their own experiences growing up without âcoolâ name-brand items like Ugg boots and Coach bags, or Aeropostale clothes instead of Abercrombie clothes. Plenty agreed with Motyckaâs take, with one person noting that âthese moments are so teachable,â adding, âfor example, discussing bullying, being a role model to others, materialism, and sustainability. It’s okay to not âfit in.ââ Another said: âTeach your children to be kind but to also be confident in themselves to not have the âthingsâ to fit in.â Being bullied over a silly cup is genuinely heartbreaking, so hereâs hoping parents can remind their kids that they are so much more important than whatever labels are on the items they own (or donât own). The latest News Viral TikTok proves families will do *anything* for their only grandchild News âWeâre pregnant in our 40s!â: Viral pregnancy announcement sparks conversation about motherhood later in life News Mom of 8 shares how she creates Christmas magic with fewer giftsâand no Santa News Momâs viral video of her daughterâs coat refusal is parenting gold