Kind of depends on how much he values baseball games. Are you a season pass holder and go to most games, or are you simply wealthy enough to purchase tickets for the World Series where he only has a passing interest in the Nationals?

I call bullshit. You’re either a total bully or liar and don’t have tix or want to sell them at $2000 each.
So many percents here are just awful, wrong-headed, short-sighted ...

For something as special as this you would have needed to give at least a week's warning and the criteria for getting to go would have needed to be listed out, clear, and tracked.

You might want to lay out expectations for behavior at the game and especially for going forward.

No, and I’m pretty strict. I would take away phone or car.

OP here. Got it. Thank you. Agree that this is a disproporiate reaction, although this is going beyond teen grumpiness.

NO.

Nope. It is really too big and there would have been no warning.

No, I would ground him from anything but activities and school and take away the car privileges if he drives. That is probably a family event and you taking it away isn't going to help and he probably needs to spend some time with his parents.

That's a disproportionate response.

Go enjoy the game together.

Call a truce and enjoy the game together. Maybe some bonding will help defuse some of the tension around the relationship.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't-- maybe some time with your kid at an event like this will be fun for both of you. For something major, yes, but for teenage grumpiness, no.

This. You want to create closeness and warmth, not distance. What you are describing is annoying but not catastrophic.

Do you think taking away the tickets is likely to make things better? Do you think going together as a family will make for a memorable family outing? I would imagine that taking it away is the nuclear option indeed, and you will ruin the day for not just him, but all of you. Its kind of like Christmas - you would be punishing everyone by taking it away, and its just too big a think to hold over a kid's head. Just call a truce for the day, go, enjoy you kid and the day as much as you can.

I wouldn't-- maybe some time with your kid at an event like this will be fun for both of you. For something major, yes, but for teenage grumpiness, no.

Nope. It's a once in a lifetime kind of thing (ask a Cubs fan). You can't take it away.

We have tickets to one of the games this weekend.

DS 16 can't seem to get it together on the behavior lately. Back talk, defiance, refusal to do chores, just a general PITA to be around, both to us and younger sibling. This feels like the nuclear option but we also feel like we can't reward behavior like this with something so valuable.

Thoughts?