Posted on 12/08/2004 7:16:25 AM PST by Ellesu
Parents Go On Strike, Move Out To Protest Messy Kids Teens Apparently Refuse To Help With Housework
POSTED: 7:47 am EST December 8, 2004
DELTONA, Fla. -- The dishes, garbage and dirty laundry were piling up and Cat and Harlan Barnard were getting no help from their two children.
After begging and pleading with their 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to help out around the house, the Barnards decided they were fed up. So they went on strike - and moved out to the front yard.
"This was our last-ditch effort," Cat Barnard said.
Since Monday morning, the Barnards have lived in a tent in their front yard, going inside the house only to use the restroom or shower. The couple sits on lawn chairs and roasts marshmallows over a hibachi.
A picture says a thousand words.
In 5 years I would have made it to 50 without knowing that. Thanks, I think.
Stay away from the girls of DU calendar then. ;)
That's close to what I did. They knew if Mom had to pick the toys up, they were going in "The Box" and would stay there until they earned enough money to buy them back.
They earned the buy-back money by doing extra chores. :-)
My mom gave no warning.
If your room was a mess you'd find your belongings tossed on the front lawn or down the dark {{{shudder}}} cellar stairs.
That's fine. And that's what I do now that my kids are older. But below 5 or 6 Mr. Spanky Hand works better. The punishment has to be immediate and certain. Otherwise they don't associate the crime and the punishment.
Who Begs and Pleads with their kids? If you are doing that, you are VASTLY underskilled in the parenting department.
Oh, yeah, C&C was for after we reached the age of reason. Before that, we just got swatted while being bad, and we learned after a few repetitions why Mom kept swatting us. (Some of us took more reps than others . . . youngest brother, am looking in your direction . . .)
"Some Beach"....sung by Blake Shelton. (a really cute video on CMT)
LOL...YOUR word fits me some days. (OK OK...a LOT of days. Our kids like to play 'pass the envelope' to see who can push it the farthest.) (no one told me that being a stubborn, RIGHT mom was so tiring!)
But I wouldn't trade ANY of them for ANYTHING.(wellllll...most days)hehehe
I know I'm going to catch some heat for this, but I'm going to put it out there anyway. According to the article, the mom is a "stay at home mom." Now I'm not going to say what her job or her duties are, but I am going to ask for someone to define the exact role of a stay at home mom, if not keeping the house and kids and family in order?
My mom stayed home (so did my dad, actually -- he retired pretty young). My job (and my brothers') was to go to school, get good grades, be part of the community (sports, church, girl scouts), play with my friends, and help out around the house as needed. We did not have specific chores but were expected to keep our rooms clean (I failed), to help mom make dinner, to set the table, and to do random other things as needed. Homework came before everything, so having a project to do would mean you didn't really have to set the table or anything like that. My parents always helped with our homework (to an extent way beyond the call of duty). They also made things pretty fun for us. One brother hated to cook. He helped mom in the garden a lot more, and my other brother and I helped with dinner. My mom always did all the laundry and always loaded the dishwasher. If we came home and found a full, clean dishwasher, we'd empty it, but only to be nice, not because we felt we had to. Maybe my parents were just easy on us and lucky that we didn't come out bratty. But if this woman has no obligations outside the home, I'm wondering why she divides up all the household chores among her 2 kids (not 6, which would probably require a lot of pitching in), instead of doing the bulk of it herself? If your a kid, your job is to get good grades and to be a kid. Parents are supposed to make that possible.
Am I way off base here or what?
(and no, I don't have any kids)
that covers a lot for me and my spouse ... as they get closer to being graduated from school, they'll learn to make fairly simple meals, learn to separate whites from colors and do the laundry and get jobs so they can pay for their car insurances
I would take the kids' stuff away. TV, MP3, cell phone, video games, etc. Further more I would put the dirty dishes in their rooms to mold, along with the garbage from the kitchen. I would tell them if they won't help, they can live like pigs. Make them stay in their rooms with the garbage.
No wonder my kids used to say I was mean.
He lived away when he went to college and he had the option of not following me when I decided to go back for my PhD. I think when I take a professorship, he will stay here, since I want to go to a smaller town.
I don't mind him being w/me. I lost my husband when my son was 14. In some cultures, including his father's Greek culture, it is considered being a good son to stay with and protect your widowed mom - it's that family values thing we conservatives like to talk about. He's free to go, but since we like each other as well as love each other, he's also free to stay.
This is totally pathetic. Thank God for the parents I had. They loved us enough to make us do the right things.
AGREED!
Much agree.
But they look even MORE ridiculous without clothes!
Adam and Even they ain't!
LOL.
It helps that my monitor is 4 feet from my head as I sit in deceased granny's rocker.
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