Posted on 03/20/2006 7:34:30 AM PST by mathprof
An exasperated father has discovered to his cost that cyberspace is not the ideal arena for family feuds. Two weeks ago Steve Williams became so fed up with his daughter's messy bedroom that he built a website featuring pictures of his slothful offspring's lair in an attempt to shame her into action.
But the public humiliation proved a short-lived victory. While it did spur his daughter, Claire, into tidying up her room, it also whet her appetite for revenge. With the help of her father's friends, the 20-year-old business student has now set up a rival website that displays photos of him in a variety of compromising situations.
"All my friends feel sorry for Claire so they're ganging up on me," said Mr Williams, of Whitehaven, Cumbria. "They've managed to dig out photos of me drunk and dancing round with a handbag at a party, and also put pictures of my garage on to show it's not just Claire who's untidy...
Despite the embarrassment, Mr Williams said he had no regrets.
"It started off as a flippant remark, with me saying to Claire if you don't sort your room out I am going to put that pic on the internet," he said. "It had the desired effect. Her bedroom is not immaculate, but it's a hundred times better. My son has started keeping his tidy too. He's living in fear of being outed!
"Claire is absolutely mortified. She has only just started speaking to me again."
Mr Williams' site, www.shameit.com, has proved hugely popular with disgruntled families from all over the world. Nearly 40,000 people have visited the site in its first fortnight.
(Excerpt) Read more at technology.guardian.co.uk ...
I worked with a guy who was determined to teach his teenagers to keep their rooms clean. Every time he found something on the floor or thrown across a chair in their rooms, he put it in the trunk of his car. Soon, they were left only with the shoes and clothes that they didn't like.
It worked. They learned how to be tidy.
"Didn't work"
I don't get that at all. Once my kids have nothing to play with or wear they seem to keep their nothingness organized pretty well.
Bedtime is 8pm every night no exceptions....
Give them 30 days sentences before they get any privileges back...
So them who the real strong willed one is...
Ha!! At 16 I was allowed to watch a movie in my room with my boyfriend, but the light had to be on and the door wide open. There was no deviation from the rules. Of course, my room was never a pigsty, and no one ever crossed my dad.
I showed up at my son's private school. The supervisor told me that our high school student filled the entire trash barrel with junk in a frenzy.
I brought a vacuum cleaner along and swept the room. After that he wet mopped it from time to time since I arrived for inspection irregularly.
Taking care of four kids would be a delight but a challenge for anyone. Some kids are messier.
As a young teen I came home from a dance one night to find all the clutter in my room on my bed, I was tired and had to clean it up just to go to bed. My dad did it. Lesson learned.
I like that idea.............
Undergraduate students are only half done at 20. As long as they're living productively and honestly, my daughters are welcome at home well into their twenties, or until they are married. The problem with that is what?
I agree.Oh she will make someone a great wife.Maybe that kid who got thirty days in jail for being messy!
"Let me say that she's 16 and her room would probably qualify as a biological hazard."
LOL! I think the "mess gene" kicks in with puberty! The comedian Gallagher said it best: "All teenagers should live in caves at the edge of town until they enter their civilized stage."
OMG, FReepers are so funny.
She got the message as well did all of us younger siblings.
LOL! That is a thought I bet she didn't think of!
When I was in tech school I did all hte cooking and cleaning at home........wel I finally got sick and tired of my brother and my mother just coming home and dumping their stuff wherever they pleased and so one day I had enough.
I dumped all of their stuff in a pile in the middle of the living room floor (an old trick of my dad's)Dad got home from work, took one look and didn't say a word. But he was within earshot when my brother came home and then again later when my mother came home.
Neither scene was pretty - but I never had to do it again.
"Undergraduate students are only half done at 20. As long as they're living productively and honestly, my daughters are welcome at home well into their twenties, or until they are married. The problem with that is what?"
I absolutely agree with you. Kick them out by age 20?
As for messy rooms, unless it really is a health hazard, it's just not worth expending a lot of energy on. There are way more important things.
Jeez--forget trying to view that website....must be flooded.
What? You think a 20 year old should be on their own?
Yuppers! Thankfully, the tantrums aren't too frequent anymore.
I've seen benefits to the strong willed/stubbornness in my daughter too. She thinks for herself and doesn't submit to peer nonesense. (saw this for myself when she was on cheerleading).
So I will take the circle jerk of the room if she isn't going to let herself be pressured by other kids too.
I hadn't thought about it in that way - maybe I shouldn't be so uptight about the stubborn streak after all.......
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