It’s not easy to be a parent of a haughty, rude adolescent, and parents use numerous strategies to discipline their kids.
A mother named Heidi Johnson shared a handwritten letter she penned to her son Aaron on Facebook. She had no idea the post would become very popular. She had no intention of making the post public at all. Although it was only intended for her friends to see, she is not sorry that she posted it online.
Johnson chastised her 13-year-old son for treating her like a “roommate” in a letter to him. She continued by giving him an itemized bill totaling more than $700 for food, rent, and other expenses. She would treat him like a roommate if he was going to treat her like that rather than his mother.
Johnson wrote, “Love Mom,” on the note, and she genuinely does adore her son. She wrote a second post in response, giving some more information on the circumstances. “I am not going to put my 13-year-old on the street if he can’t pay his half of the rent,” she promised parents who were condemning her. I don’t want him to make any payment. I want him to value the blessings and gifts we have, and to take pride in his house and surroundings.
She went on to say that she never meant for Aaron to cover the cost. Rather, she desired that him “acquire an understanding of what things cost.” Johnson wanted her kid to know “what life would look like if I was not his ‘parent,’ but rather a ‘roommate,'” so she penned the note. It was from the start a lesson in appreciation and decency.
Johnson added that her son had lied to her before she wrote the note about finishing his homework, and that he had said, “Well, I am making money now,” in response to her warning that she would be limiting his internet access. She clarified that the money he was talking about was a small amount of money he was earning from his YouTube channel, not nearly enough to cover his rent and food expenses.
Johnson’s relationship with her son has not been harmed by the public statement. “He and I still talk as openly as ever,” she clarified. He has expressed regret several times.
Since she sent the note to her kid, Johnson has also been asked for guidance by parents. “My post seems to have opened a door,” she says, explaining that people feel comfortable approaching me for guidance, to vent, or even just to have someone bear witness to their experience by listening, being vulnerable, and giving a little bit of myself in exchange.