So, here’s my story.
My son had a friend over for the day during the school holidays. We had agreed they would come to work with me in the morning and ride their scooters on the 5 acre property while I had some appointments. They were riding outside my reception area so I could keep one eye on them. I thought everything was going well and they appeared to be having fun.
Little did I know what fun they were having!
Later that night I picked up my son’s iPhone. I scroll through it regularly. I noticed a new video clip on his screen. He’s always making videos so I pressed play to check it out. OM! I could not believe that I was seeing.
My first thought, “I wondered how he edited this footage to make it look like that? Then I realised there was no editing! It was the real thing. He had parkoured over my car.”
My second thought, “I am going to kill him”.
My third thought, “That is going to make a great 21st party video”.
I didn’t know whether to be furious or laugh. To be honest I bounced between both emotions for a minute as I played and replayed the clip. Was that my son?! Oh seriously! Could he be more stupid? What was he thinking?
I checked my car. Yep, dints from feet marks all the way down it!
I rang my Mum to tell her what had happened. She said, “I wondered if you knew about that. He proudly sent it to me after he had filmed it.” Now I am officially mad. Has this child no shame?! Does he not realise that there are now dints from his feet down my car!
I gathered myself and confronted my 12 year old son about the video. As I was speaking the reality of what he had done starting sinking in. “But I just wanted to make a great video, Mum,” he said and then swallowed his words. “I didn’t think of the car Mum.” I agreed, he didn’t think of the car. He didn’t think at all!
I gave him a stern word and a few jobs to get my message across. It was a warning with a bit of a punch. His intention wasn’t bad. He got caught up in the moment. He just wasn’t thinking far enough ahead to anticipate the damage.
To this day I have feet marks down my car. They remind me every day why I need to check my son’s iPhone.
What reminds you to check your teenager’s iPhone?
THANK YOU to everyone who has been passing these blog posts on, and for all your kind emails about their impact on your family. If you have a topic you would like me to blog about email me at info@michellemitchell.org and I will respond to it as soon as I can.
If you would like to book me to speak at your school or community event email michelle@youthexcel.com.au
MOST IMPORTANTLY if your teenager needs support from a psychologist, counsellor or mentor Youth Excel would love to help. You can contact me at reception@youthexcel.com.au
What Teenage Girls Don’t Tell their Parents is available at www.michellemitchell.org for $24.95 plus postage.