Diana

Something similar on Christmas Day...
We decided to go the the country for Christmas (husband's grandmother's home) out of state. There were 12 of us staying in a small country home. We went out in the woods and cut down a Christmas tree and all the kids decorated. We kept them busy stringing popcorn and cranberries...the whole nine yards. Well the boys got restless ( ages 11 and 14) They took their new twenty two rifles and walked down the lane to a small storage barn filled with antiques to the rafters. You guessed it, The whole side of the barn, and windows were riddled with gunshot holes.....When the damage to all of the antiques was shown to them, they said they didn't think the bullets would go all the way threw the building.....Their father, a Baptist minister and his wife just shook their heads, said nothing and did not offer to pay for anything. The building belonged to an uncle, so I guessed they thought it was OK to ignore what their kids had done. These are the same kids that set fire the the church bus. Nothing was done then either. Amazing.

Baren*eh*ked_canadian

Wow, those kids are idiots, but they do it because they've obviously done it before and gotten away with it.
My question to Diana, is what the %*&@ were an 11 year old and 14 year old doing with guns?!
I've never even seen a gun in my life, I don't think anyone should own one, unless you're a cop, and the minute you cause damage with said gun you sould be responsible.
Here, when your child causes damage to someone else's property, YOU are 100% responsible to pay the damages, doesn't matter who you are, if you're broke or rich, that's too damn bad. Teach your children not be be little buggers.
(The exception is accidental damage, but that has to be proven)
To the OP, I can understand that it might cause friction in the family, but it seems as though it already too late to avoid that. I would bill them for it, and stand your ground! You can't do much about the time you spend on your projects, but sending them a bill for the materials might make them think about disciplining their children. Who cares if they're angry... uh they have no right to be the ones who are angry, YOUR property got damaged, not theirs. They now only have bruised egos because they know everyone thinks they're a family of misfits.

Baren*eh*ked_canadian

My BF (studing law) says that the owners of the property can sue the parents of the children for damage, and they would 100% win. I know nothing about Canadian law, much less about American law, but Sasha knows what he's talking about. I know it's not your proplem, but it just goes to show how idiotic and irresponsible some parents can be, trying to just shrug it off.

Lady Tapioca

I'll bet that mom would expect you to be responsible if one of the kids had gotten hurt on a rotary cutter!

pittsburgpam

I would never invite that woman and the children to my house again. You don't have to accept that behavior and just lay down and let them walk all over you. That the mother did nothing, made fun of you about your sewing, and laughed about what her kids did is unacceptable.

Some people have no respect for others and she sounds like one of them, and is teaching her children the same thing.

feline fanatic

Annie, I am speechless over the behavior of those little animals and their parents AND GRANDPA (said BF). All of them sitting on their arses watching TV while these hellions were raising havok?? Unbelievable. I, like Eddy, would have probably ended up on the 6:00 news. At the very least they would have had the crap scared out of them when I would have instantly switched over to screaming ranting raving lunatic mode (and I can guarantee you I would have!!)

One year for Christmas we had a good portion of husbands family over. He has many brothers and sisters and they all have kids and some of those kids have kids now. All said, that particular holiday there were about 7 kids in the house under the age of 10 and a few older ones as well (ones that should have known better). This was before I took up quilting. There were loads of adults in the house as well but no one was watching the kids because normally most (and I stress most) of these kids knew what a swat on the butt was about and knew to behave themselves in other peoples houses. But all it takes is one to wind up the others and before you know it, normally well behaved kids are getting into trouble. Anyway, us adults were otherwise occupied in the kitchen, or outside. When all the insanity was over with and everyone had left, I went upstairs to find the stairway bannister was torn out of the wall (I can only assume they were trying to swing from it) and the upstairs bedroom (my future sewing room) had been ravaged. Lucky for me, I wasn't quilting at that time in my life so there was really nothing for them to get into, the worst damage was the bannister and 3 terrified cats that took hours to come out from their hiding places. I was furious and told DH that never again would any of them be invited back to our home, at least not in quantity like that. My stepdaughter was horrified when she found out. She keeps her boys on a short leash and it shows. They are respectful and well mannered when a bunch of other hoodlums aren't around to rev them up. They come over every year for T-giving and are always a pleasant addition to the holiday. Anyway I digress. You are well entitled to be as livid and upset and PO'd as you are. I fear there is no helping this group, they are too far gone. Hardly more then animals capable of speech. I too would never invite them back. No sit down, make nice talk to's will make a difference with this motley lot! If BF insists on having them back over, limit it to summer time when they can be relegated to outside. In fact, hire in a port-a-potty so they can't even go inside to go to the bathroom. Papertowels and a bar of soap next to the garden hose or outside faucet will do them fine for washing up before dinner. Oh wait, they don't do that do they? :shock: :shock: So maybe just toss them their food like you would do with a rabid dog - at a distance. :twisted:

Greendragon6889

Unfortunaltly there are people like that all over ( I know a couple) and I would be raising the roof so the whole town could hear me. I feel for you and wish you luck in finding everything.

marla

Take pics of the damage and send her the bill plus a list of the missing items. She would not be welcomed into my house unless she is monitored to watch the kids and asked to leave if she did not do it.
I had a church friend who came over a few times as I held a meeting there. I told her she HAD to disipline as I could not be liable if they got hurt.
The meeting was difficult as it was interupted many times. she had problems controlling them. Suggest to your son to have the tv Nanny come over to teach her how to parent. Where was he?

adrianlee

Those "kids" would not be welcome at my house and I agree that a bill should be sent for those items that are gone. We have a friend who sometimes brings his little grandson when he comes to visit. First time he did that and thought he could turn his grandson loose in our house, I nipped it in the bud straight off. No more problem. That brat might be his precious grandson but not ours. And you should not have to lock rooms in your own house, those kids should be learning respect of other people's property.

BellaBoo

A parent who would let a child be unsupervised with a loaded gun should go to jail. Nothing wrong with a good swift smack on the bottom of a bratty kid from their parent.

The best thing is to distance yourself from these type of people and hope they don't keep breeding.