Most grown-ups know that adulting seems deceptively easy when viewed through the eyes of an inexperienced child.
There’s a nicely powered home to live with features like food on the table and unlimited internet use. And how those things got there isn’t nearly as simple as a child might believe.
One mother, wanting to teach her disrespectful son that “nothing comes for free” found a hilarious way to call out the 13-year-old who wasn’t ready for the responsibilities of an adult. Keep reading to learn how this mom used a “real world” lesson to discipline her son!
In 2015, Heidi Johnson was having trouble with her defiant 13-year-old son Aaron, who she writes “wants the perks of growing up without the responsibility that comes with it.”
At the time, Aaron was earning a “teeny tiny bit of money” as a YouTuber and refused to follow his mom’s instructions about completing his homework. The young rebel stormed out of her room and declared “he was a free person” as he was “making money.”
Responding to his behavior, the single mother penned a tough love letter to Aaron and shared it on Facebook, a post that after almost 10 years has gone viral again.
“Since you seem to have forgotten you are only 13, and I’m the parent, and that you won’t be controlled, I guess you will need a lesson in independence,” Johnson begins in the “roommate contract.” “As you threw in my face that you are making money now it will be easier to buy back all the items I bought for you in the past.”
She adds, “If you would like you lamps/lightbulbs or access to the internet, you will need to pay your share of the costs.”
The conditions in the letter called for Aaron to pay for rent and utilities, and also required him to cook his own meals and routinely clean around the house.
Johnson then signs off, “Love, Mom.”
Repossession
The mom, who lives in Venice Italy, said when her son saw the note on his door, he crumpled it up, tossed it on the floor and stormed out of the apartment.
The kid just needed some time to think and she needed time to repossess some of the property in his room.
“Once he had time to think about his wrongs, he asked what he could do to start re-earning privileges,” she said, adding that he later collected items from his room that she missed and after giving them to her, he asked what he could do to start earning them back.
“It was never really about having him pay me back; it was to help him gain an appreciation of what things cost. He recognized right away that he couldn’t pay rent, utilities or for food,” she explains.
Online users jumped into the comments section of her post, praising her creative discipling.
One netizen writes, “Great Job. Nothing in the agreement is cruel punishment but will teach him a lesson he will carry through life.”
“I know you are not looking for praise nor disapproval but I have to let you know, as a fellow mom, that I think you are an amazing. You gave your son the opportunity to learn and grow,” shares a second.
“Bravo to you for acting like a parent instead of a maid,” writes a third.
‘Real world’
Responding to a handful of users who accused her of publicly shaming her son, Johnson shares another post explaining that she is “not ashamed” of what she wrote.”
“A teenager is going to push their limits” she starts. “They are in that developmental stage where one foot is starting to cross into adulthood, while the other is still firmly planted in childhood…I cannot send this child into college or the workforce with the attitude of ‘I’ll get to it when I get to it’ when a superior tells him to get a job done. That is the real world.”
Johnson adds, “Nothing comes free. Someone is making a sacrifice somewhere down the line.”
What do you think of this mom’s creative parenting style? Please share your thoughts with us and then share this story so we can hear what others have to say!