MOMania

By Kathy

September 30, 2008 7:52 AM | Link to this

Funny topic! My 3 year old has not done anything serious yet (knock on wood). Just the typical pencil/crayon marks on the walls that we painted years ago with easy-to-clean Sherwin Williams paint. I will enjoy checking this blog during the day to read some funny stories!

By JJ

September 30, 2008 8:07 AM | Link to this

Luckily, I have a good kid. The worst thing she ever did was put on red lipstick, and “kissed” the door jam at a friends house.

She was not allowed to write on the walls. She never had anything other than crayons and she NEVER once wrote on anything except paper.

She’s a good kid!!!!

I have a friend and you could tell how tall her kids were by all the writing on their walls in the hallways. He once took a permanent marker and scribbled all over their brand new WHITE refridgerator….it NEVER came out.

By nurse&mother

September 30, 2008 8:12 AM | Link to this

Funny topic- We have vomit in my daughter’s room. She apparently got sick in her sleep and was trying to get down from her bunk bed and make it to the bathroom, but didn’t make it.

I also have poop in the carpet from my son (long story that will have to wait until I have more time to blog). He also got a hold of the bathroom crayons designed for the tub and wrote in the carpet. He has decorated the walls with pencil mark that did not completely come out.

I have a wide assortment of stains from juice to milk (and everything in between)in the carpet from the two children as well as the big guy (husband).

By fred

September 30, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this

So far my daughters have not done too much damage, some drawing on the walls and in the car (on the leather), 2 pairs of broken glasses, a few broken dishes, and maybe a small stain or two on the carpet. I on the other hand caused much more damage when I was a youngster, drove a car through the garage taking out the garage door, the hot water heater, my sisters bike, the lawn mower and through the indoor wall to the laundry room (I was learning to drive stick), broke several windows playing indoors baseball and “repainted” the kitchen going through a hippie tye-dying phase. I am sure this will all catch up to me someday soon.

By TnT's mom

September 30, 2008 8:34 AM | Link to this

I have 2 boys and have had holes in walls, markers and ink pen on walls, doors and carpet.

In a previous house we had nicks in the wood floor at the bottom of the stairs where they slid down the stairs in a foot locker.

Amazingly, no broken windows yet.

By My3Kids

September 30, 2008 8:34 AM | Link to this

LOL! I was just thinking the other day when is the baby going to cause damage. She has done the usual damage of spilling drinks or food.

My 6 year old has never caused any damage with the exception of food and drink stains. I can not recall her ever drawing on the walls. I am so knocking on wood right now.

My 14 year old now is an entirely. She just finally stopped drawing on the walls 2 years ago. Thankfully! In the house we used to rent so took her pencil and stabbed the wall until she put holes into the sheet rock. I really hate patching holes! And she did it more than once. She used to have her own TV. She lost it when she was 8 and will never have another until she buys her own. She took my fingernail polish and painted the screen. And then threw a hissy that she couldn’t see the screen anymore. Brand new tv…UGH! She has colored the carpet. We have had a few chemisty projects that I would discover in the back of the fridge, the cabinets, or the pantries after the smell was so discusting I would literally puke. And then puke again because of the looks or the up close smell. She has broken doors and door knobs either out of anger and boredom. I had her clean the fridge one day. She had split juice all over the bottom and I was tired of cleaning up after her so I made her do it. We then went away for the weekend. She turned for the fridge to off. I came home to a freezer and fridge OVERFLOWING with food all SPOILED. I had went to the grocery store before we left. I had spent over $300. She even broke my dishwasher last month. I think that was be accident though. All I can say with that child, is depending on what mood she gets into…nothing is safe.

By the real lakerat

September 30, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this

My kid was the second gunman on the grassy knoll.

By CP

September 30, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this

I’ve been away for a while but back now. Mostly lurking.

Luckily my kids haven’t done that much damage. My son did the Picasso thing on his walls with black crayon before. (The magic eraser really does work - at least in that case - although it took several of them.)

And I’m not sure which one of my kids did it but one (or all) of them broke my Lenox candleholder lamp. I really felt bad about that since I’d wanted it for a long time & it was still new.

I can still hear my own mother’s voice in my head at times: “I can’t ever have anything nice!” Most of that was from my brother, but I know I did my share as well.

By CP

September 30, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this

This topic reminds me of a Family Circus comic when they were visiting a historic battlefield - don’t remember where. But it had one of those huge cannons & the mom was telling to the kids to “be careful & don’t break it!”

By troll

September 30, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this

My kids have not done any real damage - I, on the other hand, am like Fred.

When my wife and I built a house some 24 years ago we designed it to have a drive under garage, with the room on top that would have been the garage, built with about a 20ft. high vaulted ceiling and was a huge playroom - we had no children at the time, and it was big enough to put a golf driving net inside so I could practice hitting golf shots. However, I am such a bad golfer that I missed the entire 10x10 netting, just missing the new 35in. TV. I put a hole in the wall, with the only thing keeping the ball from going clear through was the insulation, sheathing, and bricks. Thinking that lightning could not srike twice, several months later I did the same thing, only this time it did get the TV. Needless to say, that was the last time the golf net was in the house!

Thus, over the years, whenever I yelled at the kids about messing up the house, they always reminded me about my “golf” gaff - thanks to their mother telling them about my ineptness at that game.

By jct

September 30, 2008 8:49 AM | Link to this

My3Kids I can totally empathize with you. My step son has destroyed the upstairs carpet. We are still trying to figure out how since the carpet is 3 years old and steam cleaned twice per year.

I cover the furniture in the Den because I am embarrassed by the holes and spills, however, I refuse to buy new furniture until he moves out. We have banned him from eating anywhere except the kitchen. That has not helped. When we are not home, he eats where ever. He always tells on himself by a new fresh stain, dirty dishes left where ever.

He keeps the vacuum repair guy in business. We now have three vacuums. So that when one breaks (him, of course), the house can still be cleaned. We started making him pay for the repairs but that has not stopped the damage.

One more year…one more year…

By Winnie

September 30, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this

I can’t think of anything my kids did, but I remember a couple things I did. I poked holes with a pencil or knife in the seats of my parents’ new dinette set. As toddlers my brother and I were banging our heads on the window to hear the sound. I told him to bang harder for a different sound. You guessed it, his head went through the window!

Since my kids are now 21 and 25, I’m not worried about them causing trouble anymore. But, I try not to get too puffed up about how good they were. I once heard “if your kids didn’t do it, your grandkids will”. I think I’ll have a lot to look forward to!

By Jesse's Girl

September 30, 2008 8:53 AM | Link to this

Lord….where to begin. Suffice to say…there’s never a boring moment in our home. When our middle daughter was 2, she awoke from a nap early. So early in fact, that it never dawned on me to check up on her. She was famous for her 3 houe naps. Well…that day she snuck out after only 30 minutes. I gotta hand it to her…she has a fabulous career as a CIA operative ahead of her:) She stealthily made her way to my purse, retrieved my make-up bag and went back up to her bathroom where she proceeded to paint the white walls and door. My mother had just given me a gorgeous limited addition Chanel red lipstick. It doubled as a bloody back drop that day. We have since repainted but you can still see the red “bleeding” through.

The Boy…also waking early and quietly from a nap…took his diaper off and smeared poop all over the wall next to his bed. That one required a professional. If the windows are open and the wind is blowing just so…you can still smell the putrid stank. Then again, maybe thats just me reliving the horror.

Our oldest…our sweet little girl…had just learned to write and thought she was the smartest person in the world. So one morning, I woke up to find she had found a Sharpie. With that Sharpie, she wrote the name of everyone she had ever met in her young life….on the walls of her room. She also copied pages of books…on the walls. But the kicker were the Bible verses she wrote on the door….on both sides. She said it was so everyone could read them coming and going. Ya know….they don’t make a primer thick enough to cover up black Sharpie. Hope our next homeowner has a fantastic sense of humor.

By My3Kids

September 30, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this

jct…I hate to say this, but I am so glad you know my pain. I was typing that thinking OMG…is it me or this kid. I tell myself I have 4 more years. Well 5 since I held her back a year in elementary school. I am on my 3rd vacuum in 5 years. Well more if you count the ones I have borrowed or were given. I am teaching myself how to repair them I think.

You know when my sister, brother, and I were all kids our parents would have MURDERED us for doing some of the things that my oldest has done.

By ebaby

September 30, 2008 9:00 AM | Link to this

My baby will be 2 in November and has so far been banned form using crayons. I got her a magnadoodle instead. SHe has also managed to “wear-in” our only good piece of furniture. I am convinced that I wont invest any real money in furniture until she and the baby on the way are well into elementary school. Although, after reading some of the posts, it looks like it wont be until middle school.

By Numbers Guy

September 30, 2008 9:01 AM | Link to this

Good God. I’d have been tempted to trade mine in if he’d pulled some of this stuff. The worst we’ve got is really food incidents. We have hardwood floors in the house, and that helps. We do have a large carpet in our bedroom that’s now been used and abused, but it’s a fairly busy pattern that hides the stains very well.

By SE

September 30, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this

It sounds to me like “My3Kids” is a totally inept parent who doesn’t know the first thing about controlling their children. Some people should never reproduce.

By Becky

September 30, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this

I can’t relate to this topic, since I don’t have children..I do however have “adopted” granchildren & they are now 6..They’ve never done anything major..The boy did put a stick thru the screen, but the girl has never done any damage that I can recall..

I would like to think that I’m just lucky..

On the other hand though, my stepson lived with us a one time & I don’t think there was anything in the house that he didn’t try to break..

By bobbi

September 30, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this

Well, since there is a total of 6 of us, you can imagine the damage we caused my poor dad’s house. Aside from the usual writing on the walls and stains on the carpet… my younger brother wrote his name in permanent marker on all of my grandma’s antique furniture in nice large letters. Broked I don’t know how many windows, doors, washing machines, put so many holes in the wall one bedroom’s wall is literally all spakle(sp?). My little brother also thought it was a good idea to break into my dad’s tool room, take a caulking gun and write words all over the ground on the front porch, that was impossible to completly remove and the words are still visible to this day. I personally ‘accidently’ drove the family van thru the kitchen when i was 9. We comletly destroyed the tile flooring throughout the entire house. Oh and this one time my younger brothers thought it would be a good idea to put fire crackers down the toilet to ‘see what would happen’. A big mess is what happened. Luckily for my poor dad the youngest is now 16, and he has slowly began remodeling the house. I really hope mine aren’t as bad as we were…LOL i couldn’t afford the repairs.

By Jesse's Girl

September 30, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this

Oh…I forgot about the PBJ in the VCR. The Boy did it when he was 1 but blamed the dog.

By Amnesia

September 30, 2008 9:34 AM | Link to this

When I first read this blog, I thought “I don’t remember any damage the kids did”. Then it started to come back to me. Both are in college so I think I’ve blocked the events from my mind. When my son was about 12 he and his friends once got into the darts (they knew better) and since their aim wasn’t good they put holes all over the wall around the dartboard. I doubt if many, if any, of the darts actually hit the board. I took the opportunity to show them how to spackle and they had to fix the holes. My daughter spilled her blush art set on the carpet in my son’s room (don’t ask me why she was painting in there) and didn’t tell anyone. The light beige carpet had a light pink spot until we replaced it a couple of years ago.

My oldest nephew was the one always getting into something. He one took the water hose and stuck it in a hole in the bricks outside the house and turned the water on - just to see what would happen. My sister discovered it when her family room carpet was soaked with water. He also sprayed the family car with WD-40 - which made it very hard to open the doors - and it was hard to get off.

Now in the interest of full-disclosure I think the worst thing I did was to cut off a friends ponytail when we were playing beauty parlor. I don’t recall her mom ever letting her come over again.

By amy

September 30, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this

My 3 Kids-get a grip!!! You are the adult, she is the child. If you take away all rights and priveleges, i.e.- electronics, friends, tv viewing time, etc, and also implement fines-and if your child has no money to pay fines, then make her do chores or Community Service until she’s made enough money to pay for all the damages, then she’ll get the point. Another route you can take is to enroll her in some Karate classes, it will do her some good to learn about respect and discipline.

By Penguinmom

September 30, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this

My middle child decided, at age 5, to try writing on the walls. Fortunately, she was at my parent’s house so they thought it was adorable that she drew a picture of herself and her siblings. My dad even took a picture of her standing next to it.

Recently, a fan blade fell off of the ceiling fan in our bedroom. Of course, my 3 children ‘swear’ they never touched it or hung anything off of it but I’m pretty sure this one can be chalked up to the little darlings.

Personally, when I was a teenager, I decided to see how fast a Kleenex burned. (really fast btw). I dropped the burning Kleenex on my parent’s carpet and melted the carpet fibers. Fortunately, that was it.

By JJ

September 30, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this

my3kids I think your daughter needs a good swift kick in the rear. No way would my child ever act like that, and do those things you described, and still be living. I don’t want to sound mean, but she needs a taste of the back of your hand. This kid is controlling you. She needs help.

By MA

September 30, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this

I can’t remember who wrote about the cheap builder’s paint but…you are soooo right!

When my son, who is now 20, was 4, we had just moved into our new house(same one we still live in). He had one of those toddler beds and put a slice of American cheese on the wall beside his bed. Of course the grease made a HUGE circle on the cheap paint and even though we painted four times with primer, it still soaked through. We ended up painting the bottom half of his walls a dark blue. That was the only big damage my kids have done.

Oh, we do have a dent on the corner where two walls meet(metal stripping) from my son pushing his little sister. 13 stitches later and we still have the dents and for a long time we kept the blood streaks there.

By MA

September 30, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this

My son, who is now 20, at age 4 put a slice of American cheese on the wall beside his toddler bed. We didn’t notice it for probably a few days and the grease made a HUGE circle. Talk about cheap builder’s paint. Even after we painted the wall four times with primer it still seeped through. We had to paint the bottom half of his walls a dark blue.

That was the only big damage we’ve had and that was pretty small and fixable.

By Thurston & Lovey

September 30, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this

MA - I can relate, darling. When our precious little girl was about four, the nanny gave her some aged Brie and she smeared it all over the faux-painted wainscoting in her nursery suite. We had to fly the painter in from Florence (Italy, not South Carolina) to repair the damage. From then on, she only consumed aged cheeses when seated in her velvet booster chair (we had it scotch-guarded!). Keep a stiff upper lip, darling. Cheers!

By MA

September 30, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this

Sorry for the double post folks. The delay is longer than usual.

By MA

September 30, 2008 10:25 AM | Link to this

Cute T&L!

By Lestat the Vampire

September 30, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this

Are those blood streaks still there? :)..

By Original Rick

September 30, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this

I won’t get into the gray hairs my son has given me, but let me ask this:

Killing your mother= Matricide.

Killing your father= Patricide.

Killing your brother= Fratricide.

So, is killing your kids= Pesticide?

By new mom

September 30, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this

Hi everyone!

So far, our one-year old hasn’t caused too much damage yet. She had acid reflux, and would spit up as she crawled…then would track it with her hands and feet. yuck.

One day I turned my back for a second, and she spit up while sitting in the hallway, then apparently got excited and put her hands in it, then proceeded to make spit-up handprints all over the wall. I got most of it up, but when you get at the right angle, you can still see those little handprints.

Last week when she was playing in her room, she discovered the hinges on her door. While I was saying NO (I was scared she’d pinch her fingers) she decided to touch the wall, and got some kind of black grease on her wall. That won’t be coming out any time soon…until we either paint over it someday.

I’m sure I have years of fun ahead of me, especially after hearing some of the things my husband got into when he was little.

By Bruthaman

September 30, 2008 10:37 AM | Link to this

The questions is how many of you guys, beat the breaks off the little buggers for the misdeeds?

By MomOf3

September 30, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this

Two incidents come to mind that I never want to experience again. When my daughter was about 3 years old she decided to pour herself a cup of Kool-Aid. My husband and I where I luckily in the kitchen at the time cooking. Before we could say stop, the entire pitcher of red Kool-Aid spilled inside the refrigerator. We had to stop dinner preparation which ended up being quite crispy because everything had to be removed from the bottom shelves and drawers.

The next incident was my gift from the neighbor’s child. They were playing in my daughter’s room when I hear screams and running from the room. When I entered I immediately recognized the smell of vomit. The child threw up in my daughter’s top bunk bed. Thank goodness for the waterproof mattress pad. I just folded everything up and threw it in the trash.

Love the kids.

By Katie

September 30, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this

The worst thing that I ever did was take a pen and gouged the wood and paint off of an old white nightstand that was in my room. I was only eight and as I remember it, it was more of a redecorating thing than it was me trying to destroy anything. I do remember however, that there was a big spend the night party with the Girl Scouts that night, and needles to say, I didn’t get to go.

Thankfully the worst thing taht my two year old has tried on me was black crayon on the wall, but those magic erasers are truly magic and after a stern talking too about crayons and a little elbow grease, all is well again.

I know that its easier to say what I would do now, but I can tell you that I would not tolerate letting my children continually destruct our home! Just like the crayon incident, something may happen once, but you had better believe that it had better not ever happen again. Of course accidents are going to happen and theres not a whole lot anyone can do about that, its part of having children, but intentional destruction won’t be tolerated!

By Alucard

September 30, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this

I drank a whole vile of “V” last night and now I can’t get my erection to go down….HELP!!!!

By Heather

September 30, 2008 11:32 AM | Link to this

Funny…all the damage in my home was caused by my husband.

By Rob

September 30, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this

Ho! Everything I’ve read so far is strictly lightweight! How’s this. My kids were horsing around and one kid threw the other into a wall, putting a butt size hole in the drywall. My daughter was playing around locking my son out of the house and when he tried to use a window she accidentally put her arm through the window trying to lock it. Sliced her arm up and almost lost consciousness from blood loss. Another daughter set fire to a pool table playing with one of those fireplace starters and a third daughter pulled our huge TV set off the entertainment center, smashing the set and nearly missing her foot. The same one tried to get up on top of the stove, fortunately it was off, by using the door as a step. Of course, the door broke off at the hinges. Drawing on the wall and sick stains - huh, wish I had those kinds of problems.

By My3Kids

September 30, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this

I am sure no one remembers but this child is the one who has many problems. Doctor after doctor after doctor…not a one can explain why she does the things she does without saying that with her “problems” this is normal. Trust me…beating her rear does not help. Just makes her more angry. She was making progress and its been a year since she created real damage…now we just have to deal with the “emo” problems. Most of the damage has been done when she was supposed to be a sleep but she gets out of her room and searches for whatever. I thought about locking her in her room at night, but in the state of GA it is illegal know matter what reason. I checked into it. But whatever…

By SmartAce

September 30, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this

Well my kids haven’t really done much damage yet and I hope that it stays that way but when I was growing up my parents had Lovebirds and those Lovebirds laid eggs in the bottom of the cage. Then the mother Lovebird died and left the babies and eggs so I, at 5 or 6, I can’t remember which, took it upon myself to try to teach the baby Lovebirds to fly……needless to say they didn’t fly and they also didn’t survive….my bad.

By Pam

September 30, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

When my son was 7 he drove the station wagon through the house. I left it running to warm up and he wanted to sit next to me (remember bench seats?)so he climbed in the car through the driver side knocking the car into gear and it shot forward. While on his knees he steered the car away from another car and directly into the bedroom window. My other son had JUST walked out of that room! When I called my insurance company they started laughing but they paid for the damage. BTW, the sturdy old stationwagon only had a couple scratches.

By b

September 30, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

Daughter slammed the drawers so hard that the front came off of two of them without her knowing it. She didn’t like having to unload the dishwasher. The evil parents who had her unload the dishwasher gently put the pieces back together and the look on her face when we asked her to get something from the drawer and it fell apart in her hands was pretty funny. She also forgot to close the car door one day and I backed out without looking the third time. What a noise and a scare that was!

The son on the other hand has created quite the mess. We have had a body go through the dry wall in the bedroom, a knee through the closet door and our leather sofa will never be the same after spilt Gatorade, salsa, hot chocolate, grilled cheese, crushed chips, etc. Picture frames have no glass in them as they fell down from the indoor basketball game, my perfume decanter was knocked over during a soccer match and scarred my new, only a month old dresser and of course, the scratches in the hard wood floor from Tonka trucks, Hot Wheels and cleats. We also have holes in the stucco outside from golf balls and had to have a back light replaced on my new two week old car when a golf ball went through it while practicing chipping.

By leah

September 30, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

in my last apartment, my oldest slipped in the tub, and manged to knock a hole in the fiberglass wall setting us back $400. in my current one, my youngest daughter has managed to break a pane of glass in my window. i haven’t got it repaired yet, but i hope it’ll be cheap.

By JJ

September 30, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this

After reading all these comments, I believe I have been blessed with my child.

By Rhonda K.

September 30, 2008 12:05 PM | Link to this

Well, my daughter has done a couple things that come to mind….After my husband and I were married, we finally got nice bedroom furniture…well, a week or so after getting it, my darling daughter, proud that she was learning to write, carved a friends name in my nighstand!(She was quite proud of herself).

Another thing she did was put pennies in all the door jams….not sure why she did that!

My husband finally got an ipod about a year ago…..one day he goes to get it, and on the white case my daughter wrote his name, in perm. marker….”in case he forgot his name!”

That’s about the extent of her damage, but she’s only 10!

By Penguinmom

September 30, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this

When my husband was a toddler, his high chair was right next to a wall. When his parents fed him rice krispies he ‘painted’ the wall beside his chair with milk/rice krispie mix. They didn’t find out until they were ready to move from the house (which they were renting). It had become a wonderful patterned plaster. Needless to say they lost their deposit.

By twinsmom

September 30, 2008 12:14 PM | Link to this

Oh please - 1. Permanent marker on my brick fireplace hearth spelling her name. No way that’s coming off. 2. Left the water running upstairs in a sink. We go out to eat, come home to a flooded upstairs bathroom and collapsed ceiling in the kitchen. 3. $1,800 self cleaning oven no longer self cleans because my daugher decided to lock it into the self cleaning mode, decided against it and then “forced” it open. Broke the switch, of course. 4. Want to talk about teenagers and cars? I figure we’re down at least $10,000 in that regard. Don’t get me started …

By twinsmom

September 30, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this

And how could I forget???

Just last Christmas, my daughter decided to light a candle as she was sitting at our brand new computer, put the flame too close to the monitor and burned/melted the bottom of the monitor!

I’d better go before I think of more …

By Old School

September 30, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this

I have a grandnephew who decided to battle monsters and smashed their flatscreen tv with a baseball bat. He was around 3 at the time.

By XenaFaye

September 30, 2008 12:57 PM | Link to this

My 13 year old daughter was supposed to be keeping an eye on her 11 year old brother. He asked her where the potatoes were, which she was in her bedroom at the other end of the house. No potatoes, but he left the pot of cooking oil heating on the stove and went out to play. apparently she didn’t think to check the kitchen. It burnt up a 4 flat condo building, the neighbors across the hall sued me for letting the kid cook without proper supervision, it burned up my grandmother’s mahogany dining room suit. My bad - I let the renter’s insurance lapse, but we’re all forgiven 20 years later, and my best friend said “You had too much furniture anyway!”

By robin

September 30, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this

Our daughter, when she was 2, thought that hitting our brand new, pine, coffee table, was great fun. Hitting it with a hammer, that is.

I decided then, that we would not buy any new furniture until she turns, at least, 30.

And, thank goodness for that ‘cover up’ varnish stuff. The table still has lots of indentations, but at least they match the rest of the table now.

By DB

September 30, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this

I can’t think of a thing in the house that they’ve gone wild on, except for the small spot of Goop that dried on the carpet in the corner of a bedroom - you CANNOT get that muck out! I’m the one that slipped in the attic and fell through the ceiling into my bedroom, ripping a hole in the ceiling! :-0

OTOH, do I get to talk about car accidents? First accident was in a bad rainstorm, and he learned, $7,000 worth, the concept of “brakes don’t work too well on wet roads.” While that car was in the shop, he borrowed my two-week old minivan to go to work Saturday morning and, in the parking lot, the van’s front bumper and front left fender was crunched in a hit-and-run (witnesses, but no license, unfortunately). After the first accident, we didn’t DARE report the second one, for fear our insurance would be unaffordable. So, I’ve had a ragged front bumper for the last 2-1/2 years, while I figure out how to pay $2,500 in body work! :-)

That was an expensive month.

My3Kids, may I kindly suggest that your 14 year old may need some sort of counseling? That much anger and passive-agressive acting out shows a lack of respect for you and your authority that is, frankly, outside the normal range. If I were you, I’d be tempted to get a handle on it now, at 14, before her attitude leads her into some serious problems in a year or two, when the stakes are higher. Frankly, with that kind of anger problem, I would be terrified to allow her to drive. Just my two cents. Broken doors because she’s bored? Excuse me? And BTW, I’d be thinking seriously about taking at least half the cost of the replacement food for the fridge out of her savings, due to her carelessness and disregard. I don’t know what kind of consequences you have been imposing, but they don’t appear to be having any long-term corrective effect if she keeps doing this stuff.

By My3Kids

September 30, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

Trust me she is in counseling. 3 Times a week…

By myterrorskeepmeonmytoes

September 30, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this

The damage my kids have done hhhmmmm where to begin….

started a fire in a closet, broke a garage window, sharpie’d the hardwood floors, painted the garage door, painted the van, scratched the new dining room table with a fork, crayoned the freshly painted walls, tore wallpaper border off the wall & so much more…..

By survived a son

September 30, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this

XenaFaye wins (if all 4 condos burned)

By OhTheDrama

September 30, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this

Good Topic!

If anyone out there knows how to keep boys from jumping up and down on the sofas, please share!

My son has done all you could think of. He’s a little ADD and growing out of hyperactivity, so he just doesn’t think about consequences before he acts.

He has spilled a whole can of red paint onto the hardwood floors, jumped on our family room furniture until the cushions have lost their shape have begun to develop holes (given the sofas is 7 years old).

He has also, written on the walls with pencil, pen and permanent marker.

He has spilled cool aid that no carpet cleaner has been able to remove from our carpet.

He has broken blinds.

He has put holes in the wall with doorknobs.

He has flushed a sock down the toilet which required a visit from the plummer.

He has clogged the sinks numerous times with tissue and experiment by-products.

This is the short list that springs to mind.

I can’t punish him to make him stop because as I’ve said he’s ADD. And I’ve found that punishing doesn’t seem to stick. He’s gotten much better now that he’s 7 so I’m thinking he’ll eventually grow out of it.

Until then, we’re holding on to the same ratty sofa before buying a new one.

By Cinnamon

September 30, 2008 2:56 PM | Link to this

ohtheDrama I can’t punish him to make him stop because as I’ve said he’s ADD.

ADD is a crock, and your son needs a good swift kick in the A$$. You are making excuses for his behavior, and enabling him. Make him get outside and exercise and get that energy out of him and into something structured. And he’s ONLY 7? You have hell ahead of you if you don’t quit enabling his behavior. He is controlling YOU!!! and you are allowing it.

Enjoy your ratty sofa.

By father of 3

September 30, 2008 3:07 PM | Link to this

When my kids act up, we put them in the dogs kennal in the garage for a time relavent to their misdeed. When we let them out, we make sure they know this is what prison is going to be like.

By Becky

September 30, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this

Yep, I think I’m very lucky that my 2 are so good..They will actually come tell me if they break a glass or mess up somethng..We have hardwood floors & if they get any paint on them, they’ll come tell me..If they spill something on their clothes, they will take them off & come ask me to “spray” them, so that they stain will come out in the wash..

What I’m wondering about though, is how some of these kids get the stuff that they do to cause so much damage..A 2 year old with a hammer? Cans of paint? Sharpies?

By Big Jim and the twins

September 30, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this

The best cure for ADD is cigarette burns to the armpit. They don’t show and they remember them evertime they think about acting up.

By Anonymous

September 30, 2008 3:19 PM | Link to this

My3kids,

My best friend’s daughter was exactly like yours. Two pregnancies, one at 16 and one at 18, and now she’s normal. The doc said “Hmmm, I guess it was hormonal.” I’m not kidding.

By Erin

September 30, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this

I don’t have any kids of my own, yet, but I have heard stories from my friends who do …

How’s this?

A three-year-old girl decides to use postage stamps to put a picture she’d drawn on the wall. And I don’t mean just one in each corner … she used the WHOLE BOOKLET!

Another friend’s kid (a boy, 7) had just learned how cheese is made and decided to try it himself, thereby leaving a glass of milk in the bedroom coset for a week, which had gotten tipped over. Imagine trying to get week-old curdled/spoiled milk out of the carpet. His mom couldn’t figure out what the smell was at first. Same kid had earlier gouged his initials in my friend’s grandmother’s antique dresser.

I think just about every kid spills food/milk/soda at least a few times.

I’ll probably think of more later.

By Mildred

September 30, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this

Our children had a hard time with potty training, so one day my husband got sick of cleaning up after them - so he peed on them just to show them how disgusting it was.

They quickly learned to use the potty after that.

By Joe Kennedy

September 30, 2008 3:41 PM | Link to this

My kid once got drunck and drove his car into the water, and waited until he sobered up to tell the authorites about it and the girl trapped in the car until it was to late.

By Cranberry

September 30, 2008 3:45 PM | Link to this

My3Kids - your 14-yr-old needs a therapist, seriously!

By Cranberry

September 30, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this

OK My3Kids, I take it back - sounds like you’re at your wits end!

By Munchkinsmommy

September 30, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this

Wow. I am glad that I am not alone. I have three young ones and the damage they have done so far, while minor, is damage just the same. My son, as a toddler, woke up early from a nap one day and while I was in the bathroom cleaning, found my mascara in my purse and proceeded to make a picture on the wall of our apartment. He also decided to make and “angry” picture on the wall after being punished for not listening. We’ve done the whole poop smear thing. i have had to throw away so many toys because of that. Thank Goodness he is 8 now! However, we now have stickers all over his nice new wooden bed frame. that he tried to peel off. Yeah, that is not going to work. He’s dropped dishes in the kitchen, breaking the dish and cracking our tile. Alot! My daughters are little artists. My middle daughter decided to climb and get my red nail polish to paint. She not only spilled the polish onto my dresser, she spilled it down the pillow sham of my new comforter set. She also painted herself and her sister…face and hair included. She painted her bed frame as well. My youngest is the crayon bandit. She climbs to get the crayons and then makes random little marks all over the walls. Her favorite place is behind doors, so the marks aren’t visible until you shut the door. She has also managed to cut things with safety scissors. Don’t ask me how. Again, my kids are climbers. They take after me.

When I was a toddler, I stacked things to get to the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet over the counter. I wanted a marker and my mother had some nice ones up there. I left a brown one open on my mothers new comforter (I guess payback is a b*tch) and I took the red one and proceeded to color the wall as high as my little hands would go all along the hallway wall. When my mom caught me, she said I screamed and threw the marker down and ran. Of course, that made her laugh and she had a heck of a time punishing me. But I got spanked, I remember that much. I don’t think that I ever did anything like that again.

By MomsRule

September 30, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this

ohtheDrama “I can’t punish him to make him stop because as I’ve said he’s ADD.”

Are you out of your mind?

You are the problem. You the parent. Period. End of Story.

By nurse&mother

September 30, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this

@Oh the Drama- I tend to agree with most of what Cinnamon said in her post. It does sound like you are enabling him. It sounds like he needs some clear boundaries and a lot of discipline. I do believe that there is nothing wrong with a swift swat to the behind if the situation warrants it.

Although I think that ADHD is highly over diagnosed, I do believe that there are some true cases. (I’ve seen about 3 children in my clinic during my three year stint as a school nurse.)

By Sazzy

September 30, 2008 5:27 PM | Link to this

When my kid was like 2 years old, he decided he would perform my weekly saturday house cleaning and let me sleep in. He used an entire box of Tide laundry powder with 1 cup of water and decided to “wash” everything in the house that was glass. He then came and woke me up and asked me to come see how he cleaned the house. There was this Tide paste on the oven window, the coffee table glass top, the tv screen, the glass to the stereo rack, and the microwave window. All I could do was laugh and say thank you. When he was 18, he removed the lightswitch from the unused bathroom, disected my ethernet cable to create an on/off switch, hacked into my laptop, and then opened a support case with Dell to hack into my internet account - all so he could do online gaming on his PS3 while I was at work. The list could go on but it has never stopped until he moved out. LOL Good luck you parents with young children!

By outspoken1

September 30, 2008 6:16 PM | Link to this

My 19 year old daughter can remember only one spanking in her life. She wrote on her bedroom wall with crayon. The lesson was administered and learned. She never did anything like that ever again. I am surprised how many parents post multiple events. I thank God everyday for the perfect kid he gave me. I have learned that kids will do exactly what they are allowed to do.

By Kat

September 30, 2008 6:39 PM | Link to this

On the carpet stains from the hair dye, try Folex. A friend of mine introduced me to it. You spray it on, rub it in - can use your fingers to rub it in as it is non-toxic. You may have to apply more than once. It took a huge ink stain out of our carpet. Works on all sorts of stains. The bottle is rather blah (white w/ brown writing - similar to your stain probably), but it works wonders! Get it at Target.

By Peachy

September 30, 2008 6:59 PM | Link to this

My 3yo did get ahold of a Sharpie once and scrawl all over the stone fireplace (thank GOD for magic eraser!) and crayon on the wall is no more thanks to a better hiding place, but her worst damage is to her bed linens. She is a nose picker and I think she picks in her sleep because she’ll wake up with blood all over the sheets, pillow, herself…any solutions for a nose picker?

My parents, emo/mental issues or not, would have skinned us alive if we’d done some of the things mentioned here. All of us kids were expected to have a job once we were old enough, buy our own cars/clothes/fun stuff, pay for college, and do chores around the house. At the time, I was miserable; now I’m self-sufficient and eternally grateful that they showed me the meaning of hard work! I’m not accusing anyone of being a lazy parent or a bad kid, but I think it is our job as parents to not give up on our kids or make excuses for them; just because they learn and react differently does not mean they cannot learn.

I know we’ve discussed this recently, but how would you handle someone else’s kid damaging your property? How would you react if someone told you your child damaged theirs?

By FCM

September 30, 2008 7:18 PM | Link to this

Hello! Not on topic:

Much thanks, love, and appreciation to everyone with regard to my Dad.

He did have a stroke, but they caught it early. Fortunately my mother thought FAST (face, arm, speech, time) and called 911.

He is not able to come home yet. He will have to ‘relearn’ to do a few things…like balance. He still sees double and his speech is slow. He is determined to stay independent—which can frustrate him.

We see it as a good sign that he is PO’d. He is already wanting to be better ‘yesterday’—All of the prayers are what are keeping us/him going.

I never knew when I started reading/blogging in 2006 (and to the trolls—yes I have a life) that so many people I may never ‘see’ could be so compassionate and giving.

By Matt

September 30, 2008 7:25 PM | Link to this

When we were teenagers, my sister drove into the side of the house trying to park in the garage. That was pretty funny…

By Fiesty Italian

September 30, 2008 7:54 PM | Link to this

Some of what you parents describe,lol!! I don’t have kids and don’t want them.

ADD is real, so get treatment until he no longer needs it.

As for the mom with the 14 yr. old? Please seek some serious help. If counseling isn’t working, you need a new one. I’d be afraid to go to sleep at nights.

By Fiesty Italian

September 30, 2008 7:58 PM | Link to this

For some of the parents, it’s funny! LOL! I don’t want kids.

ADD is real. Seek help for your child.

To the mother of the 14 yr. old? Please seek help for her, if counseling isn’t working. I’d be afraid to go to sleep at night.

By DM

October 1, 2008 7:45 AM | Link to this

An easy solution to the writing on the wall and the sticker situation is this. I allowed my kids one wall in their room where they could draw, paint, marker whatever. Their friends thought that was the coolest thing ever and they would come over just to be able to do art work on the wall. When the wall was full, we took a photo of it and painted over it so they could start all over again. Now that they are grown, they tell me it is one of their best memories plus they have the photos to remember it. As for stickers, they were only allowed on the back of their bedroom door. Two disasters averted and what fun for the kids.

By ADD Mom?

October 1, 2008 7:52 AM | Link to this

Our son was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin. I really hated giving him meds and he didn’t like it either - it made him “fuzzy” headed. I agree there may be cases of true ADHD but it is very over diagnosed. We took our son off and started on a program of routine, structure and consequences for behavior. It really paid off. He’s did well in high school, got the Hope scholarship (didn’t keep it past his freshman year, though) and is about to graduate from college on schedule.

Back to the topic: Once when he was supposed to be doing homework, the 37” TV somehow fell off the cabinet onto his arm and fractured it. He said he never touched it, the TV “jumped off the stand” when he was just walking by. BTW, the TV was undamaged, so I’m not sure this qualifies for the damage story.

By JJ

October 1, 2008 8:07 AM | Link to this

FCM SO Glad to hear your Daddy is doing better. I wish him a speedy recovery.

And I feel the same way about the compassion we all have in this blog. It’s comforting to come here. Like I said a while ago, this is my therapy.

Keep us posted on Dad’s progress.

By Jesse's Girl

October 1, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

Awesome news about your daddy FCM. God is good!!!

By Becky

October 1, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this

FCM, so glad that your Dad is a little better…Peachy, I agree ith you, I grew up in a household of 10 kids & I don’t think all of us together did as much damage as some of saying that one kid does..Could be the fact that you can’t spank a child now & we knew that we would of gotten our butts tore up..

I think that DM has a great plan about having one wall to let them draw on…I always kept mine plenty of paper to color on & that might be the reason that they never wrote on the walls..

By motherjanegoose

October 1, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this

Great news FCM about your Dad….he is in my prayers!

Sorry, I have been out of the loop and will be while I am traveling.

It is nice to have some support out there when you need it and I hope the trolls realize that this blog is aimed as a positive resource.

Have a great day…I am outta here…LOL.

By single mom of 2 girls

October 6, 2008 2:54 PM | Link to this

My sweet girls have left perfect iron marks on the rug - who knew you couldn’t lay the iron flat on the rug while ironing clothes. They have carved initials into my sweet 16 cedar chest and wood trim while talking on the phone, burnt up pots, broken car seats rough housing and broken door knobs fighting when I wasn’t home; spilled milk into laptops; and drove cars with no oil. They have to pay with their own money for anything they break now and things are much quieter. I got no real complaints. I had lively kids that were curious and passionate and now they are becoming the adults that I always hoped they would be.

By single mom of 2 girls

October 6, 2008 2:54 PM | Link to this

My sweet girls have left perfect iron marks on the rug - who knew you couldn’t lay the iron flat on the rug while ironing clothes. They have carved initials into my sweet 16 cedar chest and wood trim while talking on the phone, burnt up pots, broken car seats rough housing and broken door knobs fighting when I wasn’t home; spilled milk into laptops; and drove cars with no oil. They have to pay with their own money for anything they break now and things are much quieter. I got no real complaints. I had lively kids that were curious and passionate and now they are becoming the adults that I always hoped they would be.

By Linda

October 8, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this

At age 2, our daughter, Jill, liked to stand in the seats of a new pair of leather wing chairs and gaze out the large picture window behind them. What I failed to realize, as she stood facing the backs of the chairs, was that she was “teething” on the wings… and managed to bite through the leather. We’d only had the chairs a couple of months when I had to have them repaired. I couldn’t be upset; however, as I recalled how I’d taken a sharpened pencil and poked dozens of little holes in the arm of my Dad’s Naughahyde recliner when I was a child. (Hey, in my defense, it wasn’t malicious: it just felt good when the pencil point popped through… kind of like popping bubble-wrap.) Memory of my own Mom’s “karmic warning” of “This will all come back to you one day” just made me laugh at my child’s unusual ‘feeding’ habit.