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I am so livid.
Yesterday, one of ChinchillaBoy's little friends came over to play. The two boys went into ChinchillaBoy's room and decided to do something really stupid - make a prank call. They'd been prank-calling their friends for a while now. I've been telling them that it is a dumb thing to do and that they had to stop, but they always replied that their friends didn't seem to mind. This time, however, ChinchillaBoy decided to do something new - to prank-call a kid down the street that he wasn't really friends with. His friend "Bobby" had never met the kid at all.
"So what do you think, Bobby?" - asks ChinchillaBoy excitedly. - "Should I call him?"
"Yeah, sure," Bobby replies. So ChinchillaBoy calls the kid's house, and lo and behold, the kid's mother answers the phone. Now's the perfect time for ChinchillaBoy to apologize and hang up, but no, he keeps talking. One thing leads to another and he ends up telling the poor woman to suck his balls! Bobby just sits there, speechless.
Did the woman have caller ID? Heck yeah! So after an irate phone call from her, the doorbell rings and the police is in my house, telling me that the woman wants to press charges against both boys. Both?! How did she know Bobby was even there? I have no idea. We talk to the police and manage to convince them to let the kids off with a warning. It is a terrible ordeal and I am all shaken up. So what do I do? I give Bobby a piece of my mind. I tell him that his behavior was despicable and that I am sure his mother didn't raise him like that. I then swiftly drop Bobby off at his house and tell him to stay away from ChinchillaBoy from now on. Then I call Bobby's Mom, who is yet unaware of the whole thing.
"The kids made a prank call while at our house, and they said very nasty things to an adult," - I begin and then proceed to tell her the rest. Needless to say, Bobby's mother is mortified and agrees completely when I tell her that our kids should not play together for a while. She says good-bye and hangs up on her way to give Bobby the worst punishment of his short life.
I think I handled this pretty well... what say you?
This was a trick question. Scroll down for an answer.
Heh heh heh. So, have you delinked me yet for treating poor Bobby in this manner? Please don't. The roles in this story were reversed. Everything really happened, but it happened at Bobby's house. Bobby made the call; ChinchillaBoy was the silent witness; and I am pretty confused right now.
Yes, it was a dumb thing to do. But was there really a need to make everything look like it was entirely ChinchillaBoy's fault? All he said was "yeah, sure", for Pete's sakes! And was there really a need to question his upbringing and to ban him from seeing Bobby because suddenly ChinchillaBoy is bad influence? Spineless, yes; bad influence - gee, I wonder!
On the bright side, ChinchillaBoy got the scare of his life and has definitely learned a lesson. I will be surprised if he ever makes a prank call again. Of course, if he really does, there will be consequences. But, in addition to that, there were several more lessons that he learned that were not necessarily called for.
He learned that, in this country, people will try to press charges at the drop of a hat.
He also learned that, if your friends are doing something dumb and barely legal, and you happily tag along for a ride, then, if you all get caught, your friends will try to put the blame on you, and their families will be more than willing to assist.
I am actually glad that it all happened last night. Better for ChinchillaBoy to learn these things now, over a prank call, then ten years from now, over things like drunk driving, drugs, group rape, or other similar exciting stuff.
ChinchillaBoy has always had this fascination with being accepted by the cool crowd. When he was little, he'd give the cool kids quarters and candy so they would let him play with them. Now he's allowing them to drag him into doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Maybe it's time he started losing this fascination, or things may get way more ugly.
Some days I wish both my kids had Aspergers and didn't care if they are accepted or not.
Yesterday, one of ChinchillaBoy's little friends came over to play. The two boys went into ChinchillaBoy's room and decided to do something really stupid - make a prank call. They'd been prank-calling their friends for a while now. I've been telling them that it is a dumb thing to do and that they had to stop, but they always replied that their friends didn't seem to mind. This time, however, ChinchillaBoy decided to do something new - to prank-call a kid down the street that he wasn't really friends with. His friend "Bobby" had never met the kid at all.
"So what do you think, Bobby?" - asks ChinchillaBoy excitedly. - "Should I call him?"
"Yeah, sure," Bobby replies. So ChinchillaBoy calls the kid's house, and lo and behold, the kid's mother answers the phone. Now's the perfect time for ChinchillaBoy to apologize and hang up, but no, he keeps talking. One thing leads to another and he ends up telling the poor woman to suck his balls! Bobby just sits there, speechless.
Did the woman have caller ID? Heck yeah! So after an irate phone call from her, the doorbell rings and the police is in my house, telling me that the woman wants to press charges against both boys. Both?! How did she know Bobby was even there? I have no idea. We talk to the police and manage to convince them to let the kids off with a warning. It is a terrible ordeal and I am all shaken up. So what do I do? I give Bobby a piece of my mind. I tell him that his behavior was despicable and that I am sure his mother didn't raise him like that. I then swiftly drop Bobby off at his house and tell him to stay away from ChinchillaBoy from now on. Then I call Bobby's Mom, who is yet unaware of the whole thing.
"The kids made a prank call while at our house, and they said very nasty things to an adult," - I begin and then proceed to tell her the rest. Needless to say, Bobby's mother is mortified and agrees completely when I tell her that our kids should not play together for a while. She says good-bye and hangs up on her way to give Bobby the worst punishment of his short life.
I think I handled this pretty well... what say you?
This was a trick question. Scroll down for an answer.
Heh heh heh. So, have you delinked me yet for treating poor Bobby in this manner? Please don't. The roles in this story were reversed. Everything really happened, but it happened at Bobby's house. Bobby made the call; ChinchillaBoy was the silent witness; and I am pretty confused right now.
Yes, it was a dumb thing to do. But was there really a need to make everything look like it was entirely ChinchillaBoy's fault? All he said was "yeah, sure", for Pete's sakes! And was there really a need to question his upbringing and to ban him from seeing Bobby because suddenly ChinchillaBoy is bad influence? Spineless, yes; bad influence - gee, I wonder!
On the bright side, ChinchillaBoy got the scare of his life and has definitely learned a lesson. I will be surprised if he ever makes a prank call again. Of course, if he really does, there will be consequences. But, in addition to that, there were several more lessons that he learned that were not necessarily called for.
He learned that, in this country, people will try to press charges at the drop of a hat.
He also learned that, if your friends are doing something dumb and barely legal, and you happily tag along for a ride, then, if you all get caught, your friends will try to put the blame on you, and their families will be more than willing to assist.
I am actually glad that it all happened last night. Better for ChinchillaBoy to learn these things now, over a prank call, then ten years from now, over things like drunk driving, drugs, group rape, or other similar exciting stuff.
ChinchillaBoy has always had this fascination with being accepted by the cool crowd. When he was little, he'd give the cool kids quarters and candy so they would let him play with them. Now he's allowing them to drag him into doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Maybe it's time he started losing this fascination, or things may get way more ugly.
Some days I wish both my kids had Aspergers and didn't care if they are accepted or not.
