Naughty Kids Ruined the Family Vacation, So the Mother Decided Not to Leave This Unpunished

Recently a mother of three posted a story about how she taught her naughty kids a lesson. They ruined their family vacation, so the woman decided to show them what consequences of their bad behavior can be. But neither her husband nor her own mother supported her in this.

This is what the woman wrote, “My husband and I have 3 kids: 9M, 8M, and 3F. The boys have been driving us crazy. They fight like cats and dogs. We’ve had countless talks with them about respecting each other, to no avail. I understand sibling rivalry, but it’s gotten to the point it’s disruptive to us all, every day.

I already told my husband last week I wasn’t sure if the vacation was a good idea. My husband shut me down pretty much immediately and things went ahead as planned.

First of all, the 3.5-hour car ride was (predictably) hell. Boys fighting and riling each other up the whole time. Husband and I kept trying to reassure each other that things would be better once we got there, and they would be too excited to cause trouble.”

“We were wrong. They had so many reminders of what not to do once we got to the rental house...so they do everything wrong from the get-go.

Shoes on the white furniture? Check. Running in the house? Check. I turned my back for 2 seconds and the 8-year-old threw a box of chalk in the pool to keep his brother from getting it. We went out to lunch, and they were out of control in the restaurant. The 9-year-old ran away from us in a strange place because he didn’t get his way.

We finally go to the beach and they are frankly being brats. Refusing sunscreen. Fighting over toys. Pushing their luck repeatedly going farther and farther out in the water than we told them to. Cursing.”

“By the time we got back to the house, it was around dinner time, and I was fed up. They were totally ruining it for everybody. Nothing had worked, and I told my husband we needed to go home, for the reasons mentioned above, mainly that they needed to see a real consequence. My husband still insisted it would get better.

I put my foot down and told him that I didn’t even want to be there at that point so either I was leaving, or we all were. He got super pissed and told me it was ridiculous and unfair to our daughter. I actually agree with him but saw no other choice at this point. Of course, when I tell the kids they immediately burst into tears and are begging to stay, promising they will behave.”

“My mother, who came with us, was also near tears. She thought her precious grandbabies did no wrong. She argued with me too, begging me to ‘just let it go,’ but I refused to budge. So, we left, less than 24 hours into a 4-day vacation.

Half the ride home was spent with them sobbing, and my husband pretty much gave me the silent treatment the whole way. My mother decided to stay behind a little longer but then started randomly texting me about 30 minutes in, asking if I was serious (she knew I was) and told me the whole reason she came was to spend time with the kids, so I had now ‘ruined it for everybody’ and ‘they’re only little once.’

Here we are the following evening and pretty much no one likes me right now except my 3-year-old. Are they right?”

This is how Internet users reacted to the story:

• Tell your mom, “They’re only little once, so I only have this one chance to correct their horrible behavior and keep them from become entitled grownup jerks.” © ItsAboutResilience / Reddit
• Clearly she either never laid down consequences when her boys were a lot younger, or was sabotaged at every point by her husband and/or mother. © TheFilthyDIL / Reddit
• I couldn’t believe I read this whole thing, and she didn’t set a consequence until they left. “Consequences” can’t just pop out of nowhere. To have good discipline you need to say “If you do X, Y will happen,” and then you follow through every time. If you don’t give that warning, and just spring consequences out of nowhere, sometimes, but not always, they won’t actually learn to listen. © OrindaSarnia / Reddit
• Momma, you should take your littlest one for a “girl’s night out,” and let the dad and grandma deal with the boys. Or, offer separate trips (sucks, I know, but we’re trying to teach a valuable lesson here). I bet they’ll be talking about implementing discipline by the time you get back. © sinny_sphynx / Reddit

• I don’t understand when parents complain about their young children acting horribly. Why are you allowing them to act horribly? There were 3 adults there. Why couldn’t they separate the boys?
  One throws the chalk into the pool? Okay, your pool time is done. Back to the room. Going too far out in the water? Told you once, you disregarded. Back up to the room. Cussing in public? Back to the room. © WhichWitchyWay / Reddit
• Perhaps had they actually parented their children for the last 8–9 years, then this wouldn’t have been an issue. Sounds to me like the kids behave badly because they lack boundaries, and when boundaries are broken, their parents lack any skills to deal with it appropriately.
  Kids behaved badly in the restaurant, why? How did the kid run away? There was a suitable kid-to-adult ratio to avoid that. This is a consequence of their bad parenting. © Dazzling-Landscape41 / Reddit
• I got the impression that mom was doing most of the childcare work on this trip and so had to deal with every single misbehavior on her own. I’d be fed up too. © Immortal_in_well / Reddit
• They might have to go low contact with grandma for a while. Her family needs therapy because those kids shouldn’t be that wild. © delorf / Reddit

Yes, raising children is a very difficult job, and, of course, it’s best if both parents adhere to the same parenting strategy and act as a team. By the way, it turns out, some upbringing methods, which used to be the norm, should be reconsidered.