In 2015, a single mom named Heidi Johnson did something drastic to get her son to obey her. At the time, he was 13 years old. He didn’t think he had to respect his mother’s rules, and he ignored requests to do his chores and homework before using his electronic devices
The fact that he was making money in his mom’s face as if the small amount of money he made from his videos meant that he did not need to respect her as his parent was thrown by him. That was when she had enough. She had to teach him a lesson about life.
Heidi’s letter to Aaron.
While at school, Aaron’s mom wrote to him “Since you seem to have forgotten that 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.” She explained that since he is making money, he can pay her back for the things she bought for him, like lightbulbs and clothing. She gave him a list of the expenses he owes her.
In order to avoid a maid fee, Heidi went on to give her son several chores he needed to do. She concluded the letter by saying “If you decide you would rather be my child again, instead of roommate, we can renegotiate terms.”
After taking a picture of the note and posting it on Facebook, she taped it to the door of her son’s bedroom. She thought she had made the post visible to her friends and family. She made her post public. When she had 100 new requests the next day, she realized. Her post about her note to her son went crazy.
In an update to her original post, she explained that she was not trying to get her son to pay her for anything.
“I am not trying to make a buck off my kid; otherwise I would have sold him to the circus a long time ago 😉 This came down to a 13-year-old telling his mother she had no right to enforce certain rules, and had no place to “control” him. I made the point to show what life would look like if I was not his “parent”, but rather a “roommate”. It was a lesson about gratitude and respect from the very beginning.”
Aaron’s reaction to the letter.
Aaron was really upset by the letter at first, and it’s quite understandable.“He crumpled the letter, threw it to the floor, and stormed out of the apartment.” He told his mom that she couldn’t enforce anything she had written in the letter, but an hour after he returned to his room, he seemed to have a change of heart. He thought he should have to earn back some of the things he removed and asked his mom what he could do to help.
Six years have passed since this letter was written to her son. People are still sharing and commenting on the letter.
Have you ever sent a tough-love message to your child? How would your teenagers react if they found a note at the door with their chores and expenses listed?
