A California mother penned a sarcastic note blaming her daughter's tardiness on a condition she called "teenage-ism."
Nicole Poppic was ready and waiting with her son Alex, 10, and daughter Sammi 4, as Cara, 14, overslept and then began arguing with her mother about everything.
"When we finally got in the car and I looked at the clock and realized that we were running late, I started doing the 'mom' thing," Poppic told TODAY Parents. "My lecture went something along the lines of, 'You need to start thinking about other people, Cara. You are not the only person in this family, and you made your brother and sister late, too."
"That is when I saw that Cara had put in her headphones and was staring out her window, completely ignoring me," she said. "I reached over and took her phone off her lap, unplugged her headphones and threw her phone out the car window."
Poppic walked her daughter into the school to make sure she handed in the note, according to UPI.
"I was a little embarrassed of the note at first, since it said how she threw my phone out the window and it also listed my poor actions," Cara told TODAY Parents. "I guess I was ashamed of acting that way, because my teachers usually know me as the quiet, respectful student in the class, and I didn't want them to think otherwise. So I was a little embarrassed at first, but after it was all said and done, I laughed about it."
"Cara is tardy this morning as a result of a condition known as teenage-ism. Adolescents across our great nation are afflicted, and there is no known cure. Symptoms are multitudinous, but this particular morning, she suffered from an inability to remove herself from her bed, and also felt the need to talk back to her birth-giver.
"She seems to be recovering her senses after watching her cellphone fly out the car window. Please call me if there is another flare-up."
"When I originally shared the note, it was with the hopes of giving my friends who are moms a laugh and to let them see that even stressful mornings can be lightened up by a little humor," Poppic said.
Poppic was able to find Cara's phone in a neighbor's yard. It still worked.
Poppic wanted to emphasize that while the viral letter might send the wrong impression, her daughter is a good kid.
"Cara is a teenager. She is going to act like a teenager. I hope that by correcting her when she has an attitude, I can instill respect and responsibility in her for the long run," Poppic said. "I think what I am doing is working. I have never had a teacher or other adult tell me Cara is anything but respectful and polite. I think teens, actually all kids, show their worst traits to the people they know will love them regardless. But maybe that is just my way of making myself feel better when my children are disrespectful or rude to me."
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