A recent episode of “The Ramsey Show” featured a call from a mom trying to figure out how to teach her kids a lesson about consequences, but without going overboard.
Julia from Baltimore called in to ask whether her 10-year-old son should have to pay for a $400 window and a glass table worth thousands of dollars, both of which he broke. Hosts Ken Coleman and Rachel Cruze weighed in with very different takes.
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The $400 Window And The Glass Table
Julia, who has three kids, said her youngest son is the most destructive. He broke the window while playing baseball, despite being told multiple times not to throw the ball near the door. “He didn't realize the little door next to the door could break, too,” she said. Then came the glass table. Julia said he pushed himself off of it while someone else did the same, causing the whole side to snap. “We actually are just using a fragment of what used to be the table,” she said.
When asked if her son felt bad, Julia said yes. "He was upset with himself about that," she said, especially in the case of the window. But she admitted she had warned him many times: “They’ve been told not to many, many, many times.”
Coleman was firm: “I'd make him pay for the full $400.” As for the glass table, he said the child should pay a large portion, though not necessarily the entire cost. More importantly, Coleman stressed the value of work: “He’s got to go get a lawn mower out or whatever. Not like chores around the house that you pay for.”
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Cruze took a more forgiving stance. “Disobedience and intentional destruction are two different things to me,” she said. She argued that the boy wasn't trying to break anything, and that his heart was in the right place.
However, when Julia said she had clearly warned her son not to lean on the table as well, even Cruze backed down. “Oh shoot,” she said, realizing it wasn't just an accident.
In the end, both hosts agreed that kids need to learn to respect property, and that feeling the financial consequence helps reinforce that. “He needs to feel a little something,” Cruze added. “An effect of what his actions are. I get that.”
Despite the different viewpoints, both Coleman and Cruze praised Julia. “You’re a good mom,” Coleman said. Coleman then told Cruze, “Wow, you are such a softy.”
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