If you ask around, many people probably have a moment from their childhood that defined their relationship with their parents – some good, most bad, and others that have taken a lifetime of healing.
I would think that a majority of parents would want to stop from repeating those mistakes with their own kids, but according to Reddit, there are too many out there happily repeating them instead.
OP has a 9yo son who is super into Minecraft. He spent a whole year building a really cool world, and was excited to show his dad what he’d built.
I have 2 children, a 9 year old son and a 6 year old daughter.
My son had a Minecraft world where he built quite an impressive castle on an island, which he was very proud to show to me.
This was during Covid, and OP states that he was concerned that his son began to sleep in until 9 or 10 instead of getting up at 7 like he’d asked.
Since school was canceled, he has had issues with waking up on time. He is supposed to wake up at 7 each morning, but for the past month he has been sleeping in until about 9 or 10.
I always set an alarm for him, but he sleeps right through it. I don’t wake him up because waking himself up is a skill that he needs to learn.
He warned his son that there would be consequences if he continued to fail. For awhile, he complied but then slipped back into the “bad” habit of getting up late.
I told him about 2 weeks ago that there are going to be consequences for him if he continues to sleep in every morning. At first, he understood and was waking up on time every morning.
But for the past week or so, he has fallen back into old habits. I told him yesterday that this is his final warning.
Today, he slept in until 11.
So, one morning while his son slept, OP deleted his favorite Minecraft world.
So I followed through with my warning, and went on the computer and deleted his favorite Minecraft world.
I also took away computer privileges for the next month.
His son has been crying off and on, super upset and refusing to eat. OP is (for some reason) having to ask Reddit whether or not he’s done something wrong.
When I told him, he started screaming and crying. He told me that he spent a whole year working on that world, and he’s very distraught that he’s never going to see it again.
He has been crying and sobbing throughout the day, and has refused to eat any of his meals.
So. Here we go.
The top comment says the punishment definitely did not fit the crime.
This commenter says there are so many other tactics OP could have tried. Like, you know. Talking.
And this person worries it could already be too late to salvage things.
They say he’s done an awfully big punishment for a relatively small infraction.
Things like this stay with you.
I hope OP read these comments and took them to heart.
Otherwise things could go south pretty fast.