Mother goes on strike

[Aussie Willy]

Love it. This mother decided to go on strike and not do anything in order to teach her kids a lesson. So the place became a mess. Her husband was in on the plot too.

http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/l...012-27got.html

And here is her blog. Makes funny reading.

http://strikingmom.blogspot.ca/

[my little pony]

that was an afterschool special back when they had those

[misskarne]

Go mum! So pleased she didn't cave and made them clean it up.

But to be honest, her kids sound like spoiled brats, and um, mum, who made them that way...?

[KatieC]

Umm, teenagers can sometimes turn into spoiled brats regardless of good parenting. I wasn't always sweet!

[professordeb]

I've tried the going on strike thing with my entire household. Only one who really got anything out of it before it all got to making me sick was my daughter. The two "males" in the house made a temporary change -- just long enough for me to resume the duties I always have done. Striking is not always the answer, in my experience.

[Anita18]

I wish my coworker had the gumption to do this. If her son wants spotlessly clean shoes for school, he can clean his own damn shoes! He's old enough to! Ironing is another matter, though.

From personal experience, I was a pretty spoiled brat when I was a teen. It was only after I got older and realized how hard my parents worked, that I felt bad and started to help. IMO most teenagers have this kind of tunnel vision.

[Bostonfan]

Umm, teenagers can sometimes turn into spoiled brats regardless of good parenting. I wasn't always sweet!

Yeah, but that's not my sense from the link provided. Such as:

"Kids have parents for a reason, to clean up after them."

That doesn't sound like a kid that has ever been tasked with regular chores. A lot of behavior is learned at a young age. Not everything is teenage rebellion.

Growing up (with 5 siblings) we had chores practically from the cradle. I remember being 4 y/o, which meant that you got to put away the silverware from the dishwasher. Then at certain ages, we'd "graduate" to more advanced chores. My mother ingrained it in us so much, that the Holy Grail of chores was obtained when we kids turned 12 y/o - vacuuming! I remember dusting and being jealous of my older siblings that got the "cool" chores involving the vacuum cleaner. Hitting that milestone was something we looked forward to

[Aussie Willy]

I don't think the mother was actually on about chores but rather the kids just picking up or cleaning up after themselves, not leaving their crap around. She was trying to point out to them that if someone didn't do it for them, it wasn't going to happen.

Teenagers can be oblivious little shits that don't think of anyone but themselves. It is not necessarily the parents fault.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Sounds like something she did for publicity.

[KatieC]

Growing up (with 5 siblings) we had chores practically from the cradle. I remember being 4 y/o, which meant that you got to put away the silverware from the dishwasher. Then at certain ages, we'd "graduate" to more advanced chores. My mother ingrained it in us so much, that the Holy Grail of chores was obtained when we kids turned 12 y/o - vacuuming! I remember dusting and being jealous of my older siblings that got the "cool" chores involving the vacuum cleaner. Hitting that milestone was something we looked forward to

Ah, but you had a dishwasher! They didn't exist for the average home until I was over twenty. I had to hand wash or hand dry the dishes. And if my sister washed them so fast she filled the rack, before I could make space, I had to wash and dry all the rest. Also had to set the table and make my bed. Clean up my room and the dining room. But I loved dusting - hated the vacuum cleaner, still do.

So I had chores, and I adored my mum, but I know there where times in my teens that I'm glad were never recorded. And I'm lucky I recognized my mum was terrific, long before she died.

[genevieve]

I lived with a bunch of friends/coworkers when I was 20, and I was the only one who ever did the dishes (by hand - no dishwasher) or took out the garbage. I went on strike and the rest of them didn't do a damned thing. The mountain of garbage that accumulated in our kitchen was impressive. After 10 days, I caved. I just couldn't live like that anymore. I am still really good friends with one of the people in that house and we still joke about it (and she acknowledges that she was part of the problem).

I'm no Martha Stewart either - if I'm the tidiest person in your house, you've really got problems

ETA - there were two cats in the house, one of them was mine. The other guy never bought cat food, litter, or changed the litter box - but I couldn't provide those things for only one of the cats, so I kept doing that.