Good Parenting Experience
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:16 am
I have two teenage kids. Some of my daughter's classmates... boys.... have been ding-dong-ditching our house the last few weeks.
The first couple times, we were feeling like "OK, haha, you got us." But then it kept carrying on and getting more frequent. Then they started leaving empty ice cream bowls (there's a frozen yogurt shop near our house) on our front porch after the ringing the door bell. Then this past Saturday, well let's just say my porch is not a rest room.
I was LIVID. After getting some names of "suspects" (one boy bragged about pranking our house to my daughter), I went on Facebook and looked them up. Gave the boys a chance to come explain themselves. They denied it. So I contacted the parents. And this was the part I was nervous about. How will these parents react? Will they cover up for their kids? Nope. The mom of one boy brought him over and asked me to explain what was going on. The looks that kid was getting from his mom as I explained what had been happening could have peeled paint off of steel. She made him give up the name of the kid who actually relieved himself on my porch. The boy apologized and promised not to ring our doorbell again. I told him it was ok to ring it if he was bringing me some yogurt. I could tell he had already taken a good butt chewing from mom. I let him off easy.
Then I started looking for the parents of the other boy. This one I wasn't sure how it would go. I made one phone call and left a message. About 10 minutes later I got a call back from the mom who promised to look into it. About 30 minutes later, there was a crying boy on my door step with parents right behind him, arms crossed, ready to lay the smack down on the kid and didn’t care who saw it. I gave him a hard time but then explained that pranks can be playful and harmless but he took it too far. After a few minutes I gave him some perspective on things and he got it. I got a promise of help doing some yard work next time I need it.
A lot people talk about how parents aren't involved in heir kids' lives and let the kids run out of controlled compared to the "good old days". But I'm here to say that their still are great parents who care about raising their kids the right way.
The first couple times, we were feeling like "OK, haha, you got us." But then it kept carrying on and getting more frequent. Then they started leaving empty ice cream bowls (there's a frozen yogurt shop near our house) on our front porch after the ringing the door bell. Then this past Saturday, well let's just say my porch is not a rest room.
I was LIVID. After getting some names of "suspects" (one boy bragged about pranking our house to my daughter), I went on Facebook and looked them up. Gave the boys a chance to come explain themselves. They denied it. So I contacted the parents. And this was the part I was nervous about. How will these parents react? Will they cover up for their kids? Nope. The mom of one boy brought him over and asked me to explain what was going on. The looks that kid was getting from his mom as I explained what had been happening could have peeled paint off of steel. She made him give up the name of the kid who actually relieved himself on my porch. The boy apologized and promised not to ring our doorbell again. I told him it was ok to ring it if he was bringing me some yogurt. I could tell he had already taken a good butt chewing from mom. I let him off easy.
Then I started looking for the parents of the other boy. This one I wasn't sure how it would go. I made one phone call and left a message. About 10 minutes later I got a call back from the mom who promised to look into it. About 30 minutes later, there was a crying boy on my door step with parents right behind him, arms crossed, ready to lay the smack down on the kid and didn’t care who saw it. I gave him a hard time but then explained that pranks can be playful and harmless but he took it too far. After a few minutes I gave him some perspective on things and he got it. I got a promise of help doing some yard work next time I need it.
A lot people talk about how parents aren't involved in heir kids' lives and let the kids run out of controlled compared to the "good old days". But I'm here to say that their still are great parents who care about raising their kids the right way.