11 Year old knocked over shelf, Destroyed belongings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So sad the generation we are raising. I would have expected you to beat my ass with a belt regardless of who I was. My parents would have made me clean it up and of course apologize. But then again I would have never done anything like that.

Hopefully, the parents will talk to their overly active boys about "making good choices." They also might get reduced "electronics" time.

[Anonymous]

I would not have them back as they require more supervision than you are able to or wish to provide.

[Anonymous]

All you can do is make sure that ALL of the other parents know exactly what happened - those twins went into a private area of the house that they knew was strictly off-limits and did a thousand dollars of damage by being stupid in there. And the parent's response - that they expected that their kids can't behave and that OP should have expected it too, and locked the door.

I'm guessing the twins won't be allowed anywhere for a while. And obviously never back to your house.

And your son can only have 1 friend at a time now since he obviously can't control his guests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twin boys seem to be a special breed. They almost reinforce each other's behaviors. Sorry that happened, OP. Too bad you didn't whoop them before calling their parents - sounds like they need it. I kid, I kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please, it's not OP's fault that these kids didn't abide by the rules. She shouldn't have to lock the door. Our house is old and doesn't even have locking doors, and most interior doors only lock from the inside. This is craziness.

So sorry about the glass birds, OP. I don't think you can do anything to get them to pay you back, but they should at least apologize. It is NOT your fault for not locking the door. You told them. They are 11, not 3. They know better. You should bar them from your house unless they want to apologize and at least work part of it off or pay part of it back.

So sorry.

Plus 1

+2.

[Anonymous]

Our doors don't lock either - but I would never think to lock the doors of an off-limit room. I would assume that 11 year olds have enough self control to understand "closed door means you can't go in there".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please, it's not OP's fault that these kids didn't abide by the rules. She shouldn't have to lock the door. Our house is old and doesn't even have locking doors, and most interior doors only lock from the inside. This is craziness.

So sorry about the glass birds, OP. I don't think you can do anything to get them to pay you back, but they should at least apologize. It is NOT your fault for not locking the door. You told them. They are 11, not 3. They know better. You should bar them from your house unless they want to apologize and at least work part of it off or pay part of it back.

So sorry.

Plus 1

+2.

Agree with the PPs. Those kids are badly behaved and it sounds like the parents aren't any better. I also have twins and know they can egg each other on sometimes, but would be livid if they did something like this. By 11 years old, there's no excuse for not knowing any better.

I would not allow these kids into your home again anytime soon. If your son wants to hang out with them, offer to host a playdate at a nearby park or playground.

[Anonymous]

I’d be completely done with that family.

Why would there be any improvement if the parents don’t care?

[Anonymous]

Let it go and don't invite the children over again. Explain to your son that the number of guests he has over at once needs to decline, and brainstorm with him how he would have handled the situation if he had broken items belonging to a host (i.e. use this as a learning experience).

You need to clean up the mess. Leaving it there is only going to inflame you further. Personally even if they had offered, I wouldn't let 11 year olds clean an area filled with shattered glass anyway.

[Anonymous]

In your situation, I would've been tempted to get all three boys to help clean it up. However, it's good that you didn't. If one of them had gotten cut by the glass, you would be open to a different kind of law suit.

[Anonymous]

OP here. No way in hell those twins are coming back, but the 3rd child he invited is always welcome. He stayed in the room while the other two were running off, and he offered to clean up after it happened, but I didn't want him to get hurt.

[Anonymous]

It is petty but I would definitely spread the word to other parents about this.

[Anonymous]

I think when you have glass shelves, it’s just kind of risky, anyone could trip and fall and things would shatter and hurt people. Just doesn’t seem sensible. I feel bad for those boys for being blamed for an innocent childhood mistake. I bet they wish they’d never set foot in your house. I agree that your concern is mostly for your objects, not with the safety of the children or whether they might be feeling traumatized p. I’m sure that was very loud!

[Anonymous]

You are really thinking of suing the parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let it go and don't invite the children over again. Explain to your son that the number of guests he has over at once needs to decline, and brainstorm with him how he would have handled the situation if he had broken items belonging to a host (i.e. use this as a learning experience).

You need to clean up the mess. Leaving it there is only going to inflame you further. Personally even if they had offered, I wouldn't let 11 year olds clean an area filled with shattered glass anyway.

This. I am very worried about how your son is responding to all of this. It sounds like he was trying to do the right thing but his guests were out of control and then you went out of control, too. He is 11. He must be very scared if you totally lost it. You may need to spend some time rebuilding his trust in you.

Use the suggestions above and also recognize that perhaps you should have been monitoring the children a little bit better. If they were in a room they weren't supposed to be in, and you didn't know, that is a pretty big sign that they needed to be more closely monitored.

I agree that it doesn't sound safe to have an 11 year old boy cleaning up broken shards and shattered glass.