Parenting before the internet was a mysterious, trial-and-error process, but now with the advent of the internet, the shared experiences and wisdom of millions of parents are just a click away. One such mom turned to Reddit, using this communal knowledge to instill kindness in her teenage daughters, particularly towards the homeless—a group often neglected and mistreated.
Nevertheless, the youngest of her two daughters, a 14-year-old, seemed to shrug off her mother’s lessons. Instead of extending kindness, she lashed out at the homeless individuals within their community. This prompted a firm and decisive response from her mom, who decided it was time her daughter learned a more tangible lesson about the harsh realities of life on the street.
The mother shared, “I (34F) am a single mother to two girls, ‘Jasmine’ (16F) and ‘Jessica’ (14F). Their dad died when I was pregnant with Jess, and I had to work hard. We hit rock bottom, and I was barely making paycheck to paycheck, but I managed to get a degree, become successful, and we live well. The point is, I know how [expletive] hard it is to be at the bottom of society, and my daughters know this, which is why I was livid at my daughter’s actions.”
Having gone through the crucible of poverty after the sudden death of her daughters’ father, the mother had hoped that her children would extend empathy to those who were still struggling.
She continued, “Yesterday, Jasmine showed me a video of Jessica cussing a homeless man out and telling him, ‘stop asking me for money. You’d earn it yourself if you weren’t so [expletive] lazy and spending what you earned on substances.’”
The homeless man, understandably upset, denied any substance abuse, instead speaking to his financial troubles.
The mother then recounted Jessica’s response to the man’s complaint about the cold, “Yeah, people camp for fun, even in December, you can’t complain, you’re living someone’s holiday.” The mother expressed, “Fury was an understatement for what I felt, as I thought I had raised an empathetic daughter.”
She was determined to correct her daughter’s attitude and ensure she understood the gravity of her actions.
The mother continued, “Along with finding the homeless man and making her apologize and help pay for a hotel room for a night for him (she paid £20), as well as signing her up to volunteer at a food bank – I decided to take her up on her offer of sleeping outside.”
She imposed a fitting punishment on her daughter, “I locked her bedroom door, so she couldn’t go in, put a sign on it saying Closed for the holidays, pitched a tent in the garden and filled it with blankets and the sleeping bag I used when I was camping in Norway on a family holiday as a teen (aka really bloody thermal).”
By the next morning, it appeared that the mother’s harsh lesson had finally struck a chord with Jessica, a stark contrast to her earlier insincere apology and eye-rolling.
“In the morning, she was crying about how horrible it was to wake up on a cold mat and get disrupted sleep due to birds. After comforting her, I asked her if she would like to do that every day like the homeless man. It struck a chord with her, and she was crying over her actions, while even after the £20, she was rolling her eyes, and her apology was not sincere.
In fact, later that afternoon, the mother returned from work to find Jessica preparing a large meal for the homeless near their home.
“This afternoon, I came home from work to Jessica making a big meal to donate to the homeless people who live on the road near our house.”
Source: AWM
