borrow the best car you can get your hands on and give it to your son for Christmas with a nice big bow on it. Then steal it from him and return it to the real owner. See how the little punk likes having his car stolen.
borrow the best car you can get your hands on and give it to your son for Christmas with a nice big bow on it. Then steal it from him and return it to the real owner. See how the little punk likes having his car stolen.
Another possibility wrote:
Maybe he didn't take your car but used it as a cone of silence for sexting his girl OR using the car as a fap cave for his autoerotic activities.
This is a very common possibility.
The idea that you think taking his phone away is even punishment shows how idiotic you are.Ground his a$$ for a month. Like, to school and back and that's it. I'm assuming he doesn't work since he seems like spoiled moron.
furious wrote:
I'm really pissed off and I want to beat his ass but that is frowned upon these days. He is a good kid who does well in school and he never has been in trouble but I cant let him get away with this. Taking away his phone doesnt seem like its enough.
Make him sleep in it for three nights, if he likes it that much!
I did that when i was a kid too. My parents never found out though, and i turned out ok. I mean im not a criminal.
EPO is my middle name wrote:
It seems like there is a reasonable doubt as to whether he actually stole the car. Memory is surprisingly fallible, I think it may be equally likely that you just misplaced the keys and changed the radio and forgot. When I was a kid I payed great attention to details like this that could incriminate me, if your kid has a brain he probably would too. I would probably let him off this time instead of placing your memory over his integrity, and keep an eye on the car's mileage in the future.
This. There are plenty of possible explanations for moved keys and a changed radio station. You could have done both of those things yourself and not remembered. Someone could have used the keys to open the car to get something out of it and then put them back in the wrong place. Someone could have accidentally bumped a button on the radio.
And your son would make absolutely sure to leave everything just as he'd found it. What kind of moron would change the radio station and misplace the keys if he didn't want anyone to know he'd been using the car?
furious wrote:
I'm really pissed off and I want to beat his ass but that is frowned upon these days. He is a good kid who does well in school and he never has been in trouble but I cant let him get away with this. Taking away his phone doesnt seem like its enough.
I did this exact thing as a kid, starting when I was 14 though I never got caught. I guarantee this isn't the first time he's done it.
Here's my thoughts:
1) I felt like I didn't need my parents starting when I was 13. I was smart and felt I was smart enough to live on my own. I taught myself to drive stick and figured that made me the sh*t.
2) Yelling and screaming at me never worked. It made me harden myself to my parents. I developed a loathing to them because they always told me no, even over stupid stuff just to assert their authority.
3) I was a good kid at heart, but did some dumb things. I never stole, never got into the stupid stuff other kids did my age. But I took the family car, I TP'd and I egged a few houses before I knew how damaging it was. I was dumb.
Assuming your son has a few similarities to me, this is how to handle it:
1) You need proof before you convict. You are probably correct, but why not monitor the mileage for a few weeks. He's scared of getting caught now, so he won't do it again till he thinks it's safe. Make him think it's safe so he'll do it again.
2) When he does it, nail him with the proof. No shouting. No yelling. Just present your facts.
3) Explain how disappointed you are in him. No yelling. No shouting. Just quiet disapproval. Tell him about the expectations you have for him as your son.
4) Explain to him how dangerous what he did was. Tell him that because he's a smart kid, he's probably safer than most people on the road, but that he's endangering himself, others, and his future not only from a safety perspective, but from a legal one as well. Tell him you could get in trouble if he got caught. He'll listen to you better if you patronize him a bit.
5) Offer to start teaching him how to drive. He's 15. You can go to an empty parking lot and practice the basics. Doing this will increase his trust in you.
6) Lay down the punishment. A fitting punishment would be to ground him for however long you feel is reasonable (but I doubt longer than 3 months is a good idea), and that when he gets his licence, he's prohibited from driving his friends for 6 months.
He'll never do it again and you'll improve your relationship with your son.
Of most concern is that, in the unlikely event you actually have a son and aren't trolling, you lack the testicles to confront him and just ran to your computer for advice instead.
Ohio Bowling wrote:
Being disappointed in him will effect him more. Show that you are disappointed. Show little emotion, and do not react the way he expects. He will be effected. Believe me
Alternatively, he might be affected.
Like I said, I did this when I was a kid and neanderthal dream did too. I also did several times. It was after I graduated from high school and I was hanging around without a job. I used my parents' van to pick up my friends and we would go do stuff. I never got caught. At the time I was working at a Cafe. I saved up enough money to buy myself a motorcycle, which I bought in an older friend's name, and I often would spend the whole day just riding around on my motorcycle. I would park the motorcycle down the street. Both my parents worked all day so I was able to do this pretty easily. One time I got into an accident with my motorcycle where I scrubbed on a patch of pine needles, and I slid along the ground and wore a hole through my leather jacket sleeve and got road rash on my arm. I told them I fell while running.
As an adult, I did eventually tell them about the motorcycle but I never did tell them about my "borrowing" the van. I was never a really bad kid, but I did do that stuff. I think all teenagers do something, so at least you know what your son did.
You might want to install one of those GPS tracking units on the car. Or just tell him matter of factly that you know he's been taking the car, without getting too bent out of shape about it. Cheers. Be glad he's not out sucker punching people.
Your son needs to learn respect. He is young enough for you to make a difference in his life. Have 2 people hold him down , and use a dremel tool to drill into his teeth. It won't be pleasant , but it will change his attitude.
Sell him into the sex trade in Thailand.
Dye all or his favorite clothes pink. Especially his athletic gear because he has to participate in some sport.
The people on the far left and far right are ridiculous.The far left guy below is a moron.
What you know and don't know wrote:
Perhaps have a conversation with him about getting permission before using the car, and not using it in the middle of the night. Then get his agreement to this, by discussion and reasoning, but not by yelling or coercion.
As if a 15 year old needs to have a conversation to be told that taking a car is wrong. Get his agreement? Please. He's a kid. I do believe not talking down to him is smart but the rest of it is just laughable.
The far right dude isn't much better. He's saying it's theft. I agree with the people who say the kid borrowed the car. A thief doesn't return something. A borrower does. He borrowed it without permission. YEs it could be reported stolen but this kid is far from jump starting random cars in the hood.
neanderthal dream wrote:
furious wrote:I'm really pissed off and I want to beat his ass but that is frowned upon these days. He is a good kid who does well in school and he never has been in trouble but I cant let him get away with this. Taking away his phone doesnt seem like its enough.
I did this exact thing as a kid, starting when I was 14 though I never got caught. I guarantee this isn't the first time he's done it.
Here's my thoughts:
1) I felt like I didn't need my parents starting when I was 13. I was smart and felt I was smart enough to live on my own. I taught myself to drive stick and figured that made me the sh*t.
2) Yelling and screaming at me never worked. It made me harden myself to my parents. I developed a loathing to them because they always told me no, even over stupid stuff just to assert their authority.
3) I was a good kid at heart, but did some dumb things. I never stole, never got into the stupid stuff other kids did my age. But I took the family car, I TP'd and I egged a few houses before I knew how damaging it was. I was dumb.
Assuming your son has a few similarities to me, this is how to handle it:
1) You need proof before you convict. You are probably correct, but why not monitor the mileage for a few weeks. He's scared of getting caught now, so he won't do it again till he thinks it's safe. Make him think it's safe so he'll do it again.
2) When he does it, nail him with the proof. No shouting. No yelling. Just present your facts.
3) Explain how disappointed you are in him. No yelling. No shouting. Just quiet disapproval. Tell him about the expectations you have for him as your son.
4) Explain to him how dangerous what he did was. Tell him that because he's a smart kid, he's probably safer than most people on the road, but that he's endangering himself, others, and his future not only from a safety perspective, but from a legal one as well. Tell him you could get in trouble if he got caught. He'll listen to you better if you patronize him a bit.
5) Offer to start teaching him how to drive. He's 15. You can go to an empty parking lot and practice the basics. Doing this will increase his trust in you.
6) Lay down the punishment. A fitting punishment would be to ground him for however long you feel is reasonable (but I doubt longer than 3 months is a good idea), and that when he gets his licence, he's prohibited from driving his friends for 6 months.
He'll never do it again and you'll improve your relationship with your son.
Enjoyed the post.
Two questions.
1) What's your relationship with your parents like now?
2) How is TPing a house very damaging? I can get eggs but TP?
steal his cell phone, wallet and video games tonight while he's asleep
Make him read this message board for an hour straight. Then tell him if he steals again it will two hours. I guarantee he'll have nightmares for weeks.
4real wrote:
Make him read this message board for an hour straight. Then tell him if he steals again it will two hours. I guarantee he'll have nightmares for weeks.
do the above, plus a golden shower.
rojo wrote:
Enjoyed the post.
Two questions.
1) What's your relationship with your parents like now?
2) How is TPing a house very damaging? I can get eggs but TP?
1) It's very good. I finally realized they weren't perfect and neither was I and that making peace with them would make us all happier. I even told them about taking the car (when I was well out of the house) and they were shocked but we all had a laugh at my stupid rebellious phase.
2) I meant eggs only. Confusion in the sentence structure.
furious wrote:
I'm really pissed off and I want to beat his ass but that is frowned upon these days. He is a good kid who does well in school and he never has been in trouble but I cant let him get away with this. Taking away his phone doesnt seem like its enough.
You are missing the darker point to this, my friend. Your 15 year old son clearly has an Oedipal complex. Taking your car seemed to him the very ticket to challenge your authority, toppling your position as head of the household. If you go easy on him, you will only suffer for it in the long run. You must be like Machiavelli in this instance. Crush your son with the harshest of consequences. It is the only way.