Amy took a tube of toothpaste and squirted all out onto a tube before instructing her daughter to put it back inside.
”’But I can’t!’ and ‘It won’t be like it was before!’”, Breonna protested.
Amy told her to remember the plate of toothpaste for the rest of her life.
“Just like this toothpaste, once the words leave your mouth, you can’t take them back”, she said.
Amy then posted the image of the toothpaste on the plate to Facebook with her words of advice – in a post that has now been shared nearly a whopping 650,000 times.
She wrote: “You will remember this plate of toothpaste for the rest of your life. Your words have the power of life or death.
“As you go into middle school, you are about to see just how much weight your words carry. You are going to have the opportunity to use your words to hurt, demean, slander and wound others.
“You are also going to have the opportunity to use your words to heal, encourage, inspire and love others,
“You will occasionally make the wrong choice; I can think of three times this week I have used my own words carelessly and caused harm.
“Just like this toothpaste, once the words leave your mouth, you can’t take them back. Use your words carefully, Breonna.
“When others are misusing their words, guard your words. Make the choice every morning that life-giving words will come out of your mouth.
“Decide tonight that you are going to be a life-giver in middle school.
“Be known for your gentleness and compassion. Use your life to give life to a world that so desperately needs it. You will never, ever regret choosing kindness.”
Many users were quick to comment about how much they loved the crafty metaphor – with some saying they have used the same demonstration.
Amy told Today.com: “I came up with the it as I was brushing my teeth the other night. I had been thinking for weeks about how my daughter was entering middle school and how I wanted to prepare her as best as I could.
“Right before she went to sleep, I told her I wanted to talk to her about words and how she was becoming more and more responsible for her words.’”
Amy has said that Breonna understood the metaphor and that they both spent some time discussing examples when words had been used for good or harm.