Why do you ruin each day of my life?

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March 5th, 2013 · 48 comments

Belinda in Tennessee says her six-year-old daughter wrote this note “after I refused to let her try to glue a bouncy ball back onto the elastic of the paddle toy it had broken off of.”

Translation (for those who don’t speak six-year-old):
Mom (sigh) I really love you but why do you ruin each day of my life. I’ll be on the front porch if you want to talk with me.

Meanwhile, redditor thinkboxutah’s 7-year-old son put this together after getting grounded.

related: Just…poop.

FILED UNDER: kids · most popular notes of 2013 · Mother-daughter notes · Tennessee

48 responses so far ↓

#1 Debs

Yeah, why DO you ruin each day of her life?! And why didn’t you let her try to fix her toy? I hate you! You’re not even my real Mum!

Mar 5, 2013 at 12:35 pm rating: 90

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#2 yup

pretty cool, kids who want to talk about it….good news

Mar 5, 2013 at 12:36 pm rating: 90

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#3 Julie

Cute! I’ll be on the front porch if you want to talk. LOL!

Mar 5, 2013 at 12:43 pm rating: 90

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#4 Jami

I am curious why fixing her toy was discouraged. Though staples work better than glue with paddle ball toys.

Mar 5, 2013 at 12:45 pm rating: 90

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- #4.1 Jenn
  
  Could have been doing something forbidden with it that caused it to break. Like tying the dog to the kitchen table.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 12:47 pm rating: 90
- #4.2 bibi
  
  I am guessing that in the moment, getting glue out didn’t seem like a good idea. Maybe it was another small child around? No glue? Not enough glue for that and upcoming school projects? Cooking dinner, can’t supervise? Last time glue was used, it ended up all over the carpet?
  
  I never thought I’d be the sort of parent to say, “Just no and don’t ask again!” but here I am.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 12:49 pm rating: 90
- #4.3 Belinda
  
  In my defense, the paddle toy came from another little girl’s house with the ball already missing, the ball she wanted to try to glue on was one she dug out of her own toy box here at our house that wasn’t even close to the size of the ball that had once been part of the toy!
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 1:12 pm rating: 90
- #4.4 Roto13
  
  ^^^ Alright, now it makes sense. The post makes it kind of sound like you were just saying no for the sake of saying no.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 1:15 pm rating: 90
- #4.5 Rene
  
  Lol. You’re the worst mom EVAR!!! I’d do the same. Why waste YOUR glue on some other kid’s toy? Here’s a question, though: is she in the habit of bringing home other kid’s broken toys? Animals are next.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 1:20 pm rating: 90
- #4.6 Belinda
  
  The other little girl was one that is here on a regular basis and just left it. As it came already broken I kind of feel like her mom was all like, “Take this broken toy over there with you so I don’t have to have it in my house anymore….”
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 1:24 pm rating: 90
- #4.7 pooham
  
  Maybe those of us on this site can help you compose a note to send over with the little girl regarding her mother having her drop off their rubbish at your house.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 1:48 pm rating: 90
- #4.8 Jami
  
  Ah, thanks for that, Belinda. Though you have to give her credit for wanting to fix the toy.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 2:22 pm rating: 90
- #4.9 H for Toy
  
  Note to self: leaving broken toys at other people’s houses is cheaper than garbage stickers. Also, suggest to children easily-broken string/elastic to tie dog/ sister to table leg, rather than winter scarves.
  
  Thanks for the ideas, everyone!
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 2:36 pm rating: 90
- #4.10 FeRD
  
  Yikes. Now I feel like I finally understand those TV ads that used to include in their disclaimers, “Sorrrrry, Tennessee!”
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 3:08 pm rating: 90
- #4.11 Canthz_B
  
  It wasn’t a paddle-ball toy. It was a paddle-rubber band toy.
  A fixer-upper, if you will. Buy cheap, refurbish and sell high. Kid’s got potential!
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 11:04 pm rating: 90
- #4.12 kermit
  
  Hmmm…even after hearing the back story, I have to side with the kid here.
  
  So what if the ball she wanted to attach was inappropriate and wouldn’t have worked the way she expected? She could have done it and seen for herself that it wasn’t right, instead having you tell her. Kids learn by exploring and trying new things, especially when they don’t work as expected.
  
  If what they want try is dangerous and could hurt them, that’s obviously different. But forbidding them to try to fix a broken toy in the wrong way? Sheesh, let the kid live a little, lady.
  
  Mar 6, 2013 at 10:06 pm rating: 90
- #4.13 The Elf
  
  No abuse, no neglect, so I say let the parent be a parent. You can let your own kids glue the ball back on, Kermit.
  
  Mar 7, 2013 at 11:29 am rating: 90
- #4.14 rushgirl2112
  
  6-year-old + glue + hopeless repair = unnecessary mess
  
  There are many ways to teach a child what works and what doesn’t. “Trust Mommy because she knows better than you do” isn’t a bad lesson.
  
  Mar 7, 2013 at 7:42 pm rating: 90
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#5 Tupelo

The glue probably would not have worked anyways. But, whatever the reason, I hope this girl can look back at the melodrama of, “Why do you ruin each day of my life?” someday and laugh like I did.

Mar 5, 2013 at 12:52 pm rating: 90

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#6 Mona Thomsen

She (the girl) should be ashamed with herself if she thinks this small problem will ruin her life. I choose to think she has a great sense of humor instead

Mar 5, 2013 at 12:59 pm rating: 90

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- #6.1 Stacey
  
  Bue when you’re six, everything is the end of the world.
  I remember sobbing, heartbroken, because I wasn’t allowed to put salt on my peanut butter sandwich. I was a BIG girl now, why couldn’t I be trusted to make my own food choices?
  And then I made my mum pack my bag so that I could run away from home (to my grandparents down the road).
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 1:46 pm rating: 90
- #6.2 Adriana
  
  When I was five, I got into a fight with my mom about something stupid that I can’t even remember now. I packed my Fisher Price yellow plastic purse with a few Oreo cookies – because that’ll be enough to sustain me! – and “ran away from home” to the end of the block, one house down. I stopped at the corner because I wasn’t allowed to cross the street or go around the block. So defiant I was.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 2:09 pm rating: 90
- #6.3 Elle
  
  Three cheers for parents that humour their kids. When I was about six, I decided to run away from home – not for any real reason, just because it was what kids in books did. However, being a daddy’s girl, I asked Dad if he wanted to come with me. He bemusedly agreed, threw two sleeping bags in the back of the car and we took off down the coast for a few days. Mum placidly waved us goodbye, while my grandmother, who was visiting from England, thought we were all nuts.
  
  The holiday ended two days later when Dad let me eat too much icecream, I felt sick, and woefully explained that “I wanted my Mummy”. Back home we went.
  
  I still don’t know how Dad explained away my new haircut to my mother – he’d let me have bubble gum for the first time ever, and I’d stuck it in a wad behind my ear because that’s what kids in books did. Naturally it stuck itself to my lovely silky hair, and he’d had to resort to scissors to get it out.
  
  It occurred to me not long afterwards that kids in books did lots of dumb things that didn’t really work in the real world…
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 9:14 pm rating: 90
- #6.4 H for Toy
  
  Ladies, these made my night!
  
  Elle, on the plus side, you seemed to have been an avid reader!
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 9:24 pm rating: 90
- #6.5 kermit
  
  Elle, that’s a lovely story. See, this is exactly the parenting I’m talking about. It’s one thing to find out for yourself that what kids do in books doesn’t work in the real world. And quite another to have a parent lecture you about it with a “sorry, no”
  
  Mar 6, 2013 at 10:10 pm rating: 90
- #6.6 rushgirl2112
  
  Kermit, some of us have jobs and stress and not enough time and energy to humor our children EVERY SINGLE TIME they want something. I do it when I can, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
  
  Furthermore, kids do often benefit from hearing “no.” They need to learn that not everyone is going to cater to them in their lives, and they’re not always going to get an explanation for it.
  
  Do you have kids, BTW?
  
  Mar 7, 2013 at 7:46 pm rating: 90
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#7 Julie

This is great! I’ve got a whole book of notes like these from my kids–so they can compare when their kids start composing them.

Mar 5, 2013 at 2:08 pm rating: 90

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#8 MattyJ

I dig the use of the hyphen in the Lego note. That kid is going places.

Mar 5, 2013 at 2:20 pm rating: 90

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- #8.1 FeRD
  
  Not ’til he’s un-grounded!
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 3:09 pm rating: 90
- #8.2 Holy guacamole
  
  Actually that would be an underscore, not a hyphen.
  
  Mar 13, 2013 at 1:09 am rating: 90
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#9 t-rex

These mothers need to be gifted wine on Mother’s Day.

Mar 5, 2013 at 2:33 pm rating: 90

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#10 Beth Horse

For future reference, the way to re-affix ball to paddle is to use an embroidery needle to string the elastic through the ball. Then you tie a large knot at the end.

Mar 5, 2013 at 5:43 pm rating: 90

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#11 Silence

That kid hates his life, and I’d bet his mom hates those damn Legos when she steps on them barefooted.

Mar 5, 2013 at 6:05 pm rating: 90

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#12 Nunavut Guy

If I left a note like this when I was a child I would still be buried under the front porch.

Mar 5, 2013 at 7:32 pm rating: 90

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- #12.1 Canthz_B
  
  Yep, and put on the books as a “runaway” without a second thought.
  
  Mar 5, 2013 at 10:57 pm rating: 90
- #12.2 Lori
  
  Yup. My parents would have been sooooo not amused if I’d ever left them a note like either one of these.
  
  Mar 6, 2013 at 2:03 am rating: 90
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#13 Canthz_B

Dear Daughter,

I’d love to come out and speak with you, however, I’m cooking dinner right now (liver, just to ruin your day).
Tell you what, go on to your room, and I’ll be in after you finish your spelling homework.

Love,
Mom

Mar 5, 2013 at 10:49 pm rating: 90

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#14 Snicklefritz

There is only one appropriate response to a child that asks “why do you ruin every day of my life”?

Because I can.

Mar 6, 2013 at 9:30 am rating: 90

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#15 Pxmidnight

Am I the only one who grew up with the paddle part of a paddle-ball toy used as an actual paddle? I am obviously the only one who carried one in my purse for that purpose when my own kids were small…

Mar 6, 2013 at 10:19 am rating: 90

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- #15.1 Amy
  
  Nope, me too! Mom and Dad would cut off the ball and elastic string as soon as we got home from a festival with one, and it became the current paddle. I still fear those paddles as well as wood yardsticks!
  
  Mar 7, 2013 at 9:52 am rating: 90
- #15.2 Skye
  
  Not a paddleball exactly, but we used to have two walkie-talkies with metal antennaes. The actual walkie-talkie mechanism broke, but the springy metal made for very effective, durable switches. I was sad because I was too young to have experienced their intended function.
  
  Mar 10, 2013 at 3:46 am rating: 90
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#16 Kendall

At 6 and 7 their lives haven’t even BEGUN to be ruined by their parents, just wait until they are teenagers!

Mar 6, 2013 at 11:55 am rating: 90

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- #16.1 kermit
  
  Kendall, have you seen Lena Dunham? She claims to have started going to a therapist at age 7 (and maybe is still going). Evidently they did enough to ruin her life by age 7.
  
  Mar 6, 2013 at 10:14 pm rating: 90
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#17 Crystallinediva

Am I the only one that thinks the onomatopoeic sigh is the best part of this? It has the ring of “Mom, I am SO disappointed in you…” that only six-year-olds and teenagers can muster.

Mar 7, 2013 at 9:58 am rating: 90

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- #17.1 The Elf
  
  I’m totally with you. She actually spelled out “hhhhhh”. Awesome sauce. Now she just needs to learn to spell everything else.
  
  (And I get that she’s only 6, so expecting perfect spelling is a bit much. Calm down, parents.)
  
  Mar 7, 2013 at 11:33 am rating: 90
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#18 Eliavy

The second one reminds me of an infamous family snapshot of a Lite-Brite on which I’d spelled out “I HATE MOM.” I plugged it in where she was sure to see it. Clearly, she thought it was amusing enough to take a picture, which made the whole episode worse as I felt that I wasn’t being taken seriously.

Mar 8, 2013 at 2:10 am rating: 90

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- #18.1 Skye
  
  Haha, I guess all kids do this at some point? My brother, sister and I wrote “We hate mom and dad” on our chalkboard and we all signed our names under it. Our parents were not so amused though
  
  Mar 10, 2013 at 3:50 am rating: 90
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#19 Brian

The time I threatened to run away, my father said, OK. Good luck.

I went and packed a bag and my father said “Where are you taking my things?”

“These are my things” I responded.

“Really, did you buy them? No. I did. They are mine, you can have the clothes you’re wearing, and grab your coat too. But that’s it.”

I decided running away didn’t seem so good if I couldn’t bring my things with me.

Mar 8, 2013 at 10:01 am rating: 90

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