I don't think the parents handlled it well.

If the parents want to eat the sundae in FC, and they are next in line to receive them, then fine. However, if the parents don't want to eat the sundaes, they should let the other people in first class have them.
I don't believe FC passengers should be denied something, because someone else in FC sent them back to Economy. If someone in FC wants their family to have something from the FC menu, they need to get them into first class, either with miles, stickers, bribes, or simply being cute, 21, pregnant, and/or on a honeymood and/or a retirement flight after a tour of duty in Iraq AND safely landing an airliner in the Hudson.