As parents, one of our most important responsibilities is to teach our children empathy and respect for others. This is particularly true when it comes to how we treat our homeless neighbors. This is a lesson that one mother learned the hard way when she discovered that her daughter had yelled and cursed at a homeless person.
Determined to teach her daughter a valuable lesson, the mother came up with a clever punishment. However, her family thought she had gone too far. In a Reddit post, the mother of two revealed that after her husband died, she went through a severe financial struggle and believed she had reached rock bottom. This experience had made her more sensitive to the struggles of others and she expected her daughter to have more empathy for the homeless.
But, to her surprise, her 16-year-old daughter Jasmine showed her a video of her 14-year-old daughter Jessica ranting at a homeless guy who had approached her for money. The mother felt that this was a teachable moment and decided to use it to help her daughter understand the struggles of those who are less fortunate.
As a result of this incident, the mother hopes that her daughters will now have a deeper understanding of the importance of empathy and respect for others, particularly those who are facing homelessness. She believes that this will help them grow into compassionate and caring individuals who will make a positive impact on the world around them.
When the mother discovered her daughter had yelled and cursed at a homeless man, she was furious and determined to make sure that her daughter learned a valuable lesson. In addition to making her daughter pay £20 for the man’s hotel room, the mother decided that her daughter would spend the night sleeping outside in the cold. She gave her daughter the option of taking away her phone, but Jessica preferred sleeping in a backyard tent.
As a result of this punishment, Jessica had much more empathy for what the man was going through and decided to take action by cooking meals for the homeless on her street. This experience helped her to understand the struggles of those who are less fortunate and made her more compassionate towards them.
Everything appeared to be resolved until Jessica told her cousin what had happened, and then the mom’s sister contacted her to express her dissatisfaction with the penalty. The mother was taken aback by this reaction and wasn’t sure if she had gone too far.
The mother then shared her experience on Reddit to see if other users thought she had gone too far. In the post, she explained the punishment she had given her daughter and the impact it had on her. She wanted to know if others thought her punishment was justified or if she had taken it too far.
As a parent, it’s heart-wrenching to see your child cause harm to another person. This is exactly what one mother experienced when her daughter, Jessica, cursed and belittled a homeless man. In her Reddit post, the mother stated:
“Jasmine showed me a video yesterday of Jessica cursing a homeless man and telling him, ‘Stop begging me for money; you’d earn it yourself if you weren’t so lazy and spent what you earned on drugs.”
The mother was understandably furious when she saw the video. She couldn’t believe that her daughter, whom she had raised to be understanding and compassionate, could treat a homeless person in such a cruel and insensitive way. She went on to say:
“Fury was an understatement for my feelings, as I had raised an understanding daughter.”
In order to teach her daughter a valuable lesson, the mother decided to take action. She closed her daughter’s bedroom door, put a sign on it that said, “Closed for the holidays,” built a tent in the garden, and filled it with blankets and the sleeping bag she used when she was camping in Norway on a family vacation. She wanted her daughter to understand the struggles of those who are less fortunate and to develop more empathy towards them.
One mother’s determination to teach her daughter a valuable lesson about empathy and respect for others led her to make a drastic decision. In her Reddit post, she stated:
“I slept in the room closest to the garden that night, just in case something went wrong. She was hesitant, but she chose it over not having access to her phone until the Christmas holidays were over.”
The punishment had a profound effect on her daughter. The mother continued, “She was crying in the morning about how dreadful it was to wake up on a chilly mat and have her sleep broken by birds. After soothing her, I asked if she wanted to do it daily, like the homeless man. It struck a chord with her, and she burst into tears over her actions… This afternoon, I returned home from work to find Jessica preparing a large supper for the homeless folks on the road near our house.”
However, the mother’s family thought she was wrong to make her daughter sleep outside and she began to second-guess herself. “My sister felt that my punishment was too severe, that the £20 and the food bank would have sufficed, and that I was acting impulsively because of my background. I’m now second-guessing myself.”
But the vast majority of commenters on her Reddit post supported the mother’s decision. As one user put it, “The fact that the OP gave her kid an option between a learning experience and a penalty (losing her phone for a break) made it even better. Her daughter could have just resented it if she had been forced to sleep in the tent without a choice, but it had a greater impact because she selected it.”
Many people who read the mother’s Reddit post praised her for the way she handled the situation. One person wrote, “It appears to have positively impacted her attitude. The awareness that you could wind up in that situation yourself if just a few things went wrong works wonders for people. I must admit, I’m laughing at the ‘closed for the holidays part. That was quite amusing.”
Others even stated that, if necessary, they would do the same with their children. One person said, “It not only taught her empathy, but you were able to teach her in a low-stakes environment. She isn’t fending for herself as an adult with no one to turn to. She is roughing it as a child with a parent who would intervene if things became unsafe. Being a parent means teaching these lessons while you can still intervene if things go wrong. To be honest, this is the finest way to teach empathy. I’ll remember this if our kids ever do something similar.”
The mother’s decision to make her daughter sleep outside as a punishment for her behavior was met with a lot of support from other parents and caregivers. Some people even said they would do the same if they were in her situation. While the punishment might seem extreme, it appears to have had a positive impact on the daughter’s attitude and helped her to develop empathy for others.
It’s important for parents to teach their children about empathy and respect for others, and this mother’s approach is an example of how it can be done in a way that is both effective and low stakes. We encourage parents to share this story with their teenager and think about what they would do if they were in this situation.
The mother’s decision to make her daughter sleep outside as a punishment for her behavior was met with a lot of support from other parents and caregivers. Her approach was not only effective in teaching her daughter empathy and respect for others, but it also had a positive impact on her attitude and helped her to understand the struggles of those who are less fortunate. It’s important for parents to teach their children about empathy and respect for others, and this mother’s approach serves as an example of how it can be done in a way that is both effective and low stakes.
At DailyWize, we understand the importance of empathy and respect for others, and we strive to bring you such stories and updates that can help you teach your children these valuable lessons. We encourage you to follow us for more such updates and stay informed about the latest parenting trends and techniques. By staying informed, you can be a better parent and help your children grow into compassionate and caring individuals who will make a positive impact on the world around them.