Comments on: This cereal is now yours to control.

By: daniel

daniel — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:42:16 +0000

Wow, lots of folks who know better on here. Whether the note is appropriate depends on contextual factors like age, siblings (if any), whether she has a history of being a bossy/entitled kid, where the piggy bank money came from and whether it was earned with chores, other approaches the parents have tried, etc.

Since we don’t know any of that, we’ll just have to take the note for what it is: funny.

By: notolaf

notolaf — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 22:25:29 +0000

Whoa.

That little rant just makes me really long for the good old days when parents owned kids and kids owed parents, not the other way around.

By: L

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:34:05 +0000

Yeeeeck. Man, that would have killed me as a kid. And, erm, now. I have a bit of a compulsion when it comes to food touching that is still… not so much fun. Makes my head jangle.

By: L

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:26:13 +0000

I used to beg for plain cheerios as a kid.

By: L

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:24:09 +0000

I’m 19. I do buy my own stuff. My mother (who is mildly allergic to peanuts) eats my peanut butter (that I pay for myself) and then NEVER REPLACES IT. And then we don’t have peanut butter for a month until I have spare money to buy more.

/endrant

By: Nunyo Biz Ness

Nunyo Biz Ness — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:10:51 +0000

And this is how hoarders are made. When kids don’t have the security of ownership, when they feel the world can be taken from them at any moment by the whims of a capricious and selfish parent, once they come of age, they show the world they’ll never be denied or stolen from again. They keep things not because it’s valuable, but because they want to show the world that nobody can deprive them of their rights and goods ever again. They derive immense comfort and even pleasure knowing their house is chock FULL of things parents like these would otherwise control or throw away without considering the kid’s feelings. “Whose cereal is it NOW, assholes?! COME TAKE IT FROM ME NOW, ASSHOLES!”

If you don’t want your kid to have the damned thing to themselves, DON’T BUY IT FOR THEM or negotiate which things get to belong solely to them and which things they must share. Yes, because kids under 14 are allowed to have jobs and make tons of cash so they can buy whatever they want. *rolls eyes*

Just remember, she gets to pick their old folks home. *evil grin*

By: eeepah

eeepah — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:28:44 +0000

I love my brother. He’s one of my bestest friends now. But that note would have made him eat the entire box 20 years ago. He’s since been blessed with twin boys who are each manifestations of his younger self. Such a nice guy now!

By: Mitziginger

Mitziginger — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 22:30:46 +0000

I dream of spending $3 on cereal. Up here the cost is consistently in the $6-$7 range. Forget about the kids, us adults can’t afford to be particular!

By: Karen C

Karen C — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:17:01 +0000

Buy a bunch of boxes of sugar cereal,oreos,pizza, and watch your brother gain weight. I probably would salt the food a few times just for meanness. Ooh. ick.

By: Karen C

Karen C — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:04:08 +0000

how about empty the box and refill with shredded wheat. hee hee. This child may have been claiming ownership to other items as well so parents had to deal with it. When I left home at 18, I was not allowed to take ‘my’ bike, Dad claimed it was his as he paid for it. I had no problem with that. Parents are dictators even the nice fair ones, and kids obey.

By: Erga

Erga — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:32:14 +0000

Yeah, unless things are talked over with the kid – we can only assume so…I hope…(I don’t put much stock in parents who reply in note format) – I could see how this would come across more as an abuse of power on the parents side and the kid will learn by example or resent what they’ve done. After all, if her money isn’t her money, why should the parents’ money be the parents’ money? This may lead to trouble without a face to face bargaining of “Cereal or $3.00!”

By: Jessela

Jessela — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 04:54:50 +0000

Guess I’m the mean mom, we get one “good cereal” once a month & it’s bagles, oatmeal, or yogurts & bannana the rest of the time. but every time I get a box he always says thank you!

By: JK

JK — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 04:29:04 +0000

Team Count Chocula.

By: Rattus

Rattus — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 00:54:51 +0000

This kind of cereal is borderline candy and is not a legal requirement of child rearing, so I’m go ahead, taunt away. At least that kid’s getting a bit of a sense of what life is actually like, and that’s good child rearing.