Finally! After all the ridiculous punishments we have heard of over the past several months, I am SO relieved to hear of a case where one parent definitely got it right. In a local newspaper ad that has recently gone viral, a woman who refers to herself as "the meanest mother in Wyoming" proclaims she's selling her teenage son's car as punishment for driving drunk.
And after reading the ad, I just have to take a minute to applaud her and say: that's not mean, that's smart.
"VERY angry mother selling 16. yr old son's 1993 Ford Ranger," the ad reads. "Son forgot to use his brain and got caught drunk driving." She goes on to offer the car for $3,500 and asks people to call "the meanest mother" in the state.
Okay, I'm sure this woman doesn't actually think she's being all that mean, but I know that many parents feel a little guilty after doling out a strict punishment to their kids. In this case, however, there's absolutely no reason to feel bad. In fact, I wish more parents these days were as "mean" as her.
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The thing is, lately, it seems like moms and dads are resorting to all sorts of over-the-top, illogical forms of punishment … like, I don't know, shooting a laptop, creating fake schemes on Craiglist, and posting embarrassing photos on Facebook, just to name a few. And to me, none of these ever made any sense because they didn't seem to actually be teaching the kids anything (except for maybe that their parents were a little loony).
But this mother's reaction is a prime example of good parenting. Instead of coming up with some absurd way of "teaching him a lesson," she's doing exactly what I think any caring mother or father would do: taking away the opportunity for her son to make the same (potentially fatal) mistake twice. Though there are some instances where I definitely think kids deserve a second chance, drunk driving is definitely not excusable. This child was lucky that nothing happened this time around, but what if it had? And what if the fact that he got away with it once makes him tempted to do it again?
By taking away his car, this mother is teaching her son that having a car is a privilege and responsibility, but more importantly, she could be saving his life and that of other people on the road. And while I'm sure her teenage son isn't exactly happy with her (he's probably the one to come up with the "meanest mother" title in the first place), one day he's going to grow up and realize he has one great mom.
In the meantime, she can take comfort in the fact that I'm far from the only person who agrees with her actions. A local radio station posted the ad on their Facebook page and it's gotten more than 61,000 likes!
Image via 1079
