“Mom, will you come here for a minute?” Zeke asked me with a quivering voice.
“What do you want Zeke?”, I admit, I was distracted and didn't feel like getting all excited about what I though was the latest LEGO creation.
“Just come here for a minute, please.” He usually doesn't try twice so I went with him.
Before I made it into the playroom he started to cry. Then he started to scream with panic in his voice. “I did something really bad!!” he screamed. “I did something really bad!!” he howled again. This time he finished with “...I need to hide!” He started running through the house looking for a spot to hide, like a dog does when you say the word “bath”. “What did you do?” I asked. With his intense reaction, I was starting to panic a little myself.
“I bought gems! I bought gems!” he kept saying. The gems were referring to a game he plays on the iPad called Dragonvale.
CRAP!!
At the same time the phone rang. The Caller ID said “Visa Credit Fraud Alert.”
I decided to let Zeke cry and answer the phone. “Hello”, I said tentatively.
They told me that someone bought something on iTunes for $26 and wanted to know if it was a valid request. I looked down at my screaming son lying on the floor trying to hide himself under a blanket, remembered the word "gems" and I told them that, unfortunately, yes it was a valid request.
ugh....
I hung up, scraped my terrified son off the floor and turned on the computer. Zeke started to show me which buttons he pressed in his game. As we added it up, it turned out that he spent around $67, not $26! He told me he thought he had pressed the “buy” button five times.
So now I had to decide on a big kid punishment because this was obviously a big boy crime! Until now, I have usually used the Super Nanny tactic of putting the kids in a time out (on our step) when they did something wrong. That has worked in the past, but I knew that this one needed a little more substantial punishment.
My mother-in-law said it best when she gave me advice one day. The kids were two and jumping on the couch. I commented on how cute they were. She gravely warned, “What’s cute at two isn’t cute at six and what is cute at six isn’t cute at ten.” I have always remembered this through the years.
I decided to tell him that he made five bad choices in pushing that button, so he would get five days without any iThings (iPads, iPhones, iPods, Wii, etc...). It was his first real big kid punishment and his first time being grounded.
I explained what that amount of money equates to - buying six Skylanders (a toy that he is into right now). I knew this hit home when his eyes grew big.
Then he panicked again and said, “Are you going to tell dad?”
“No” I said, and he relaxed a little in relief.
Then I added, “You are going to tell dad.”
Then the screaming and hiding started all over again!
After a half hour, he finally calmed down and we called Michael. He was so scared but he apologized. Because I knew this wasn't the end of the world, it was kind of sweet. I was glad he thought this small thing was such a big deal. Maybe we will get lucky and he will wimp out and never quite make it up to the really bad stuff. A girl can dream... Michael felt his worry through the phone and was easy on him.
Zeke and I talked about consequences and he kept saying sorry. I felt that the deed justified the punishment and the kid had tortured himself enough, so I was done with it. As I walked out of the room, I guess Zeke disagreed because he walked right over and sat in the timeout spot. Haha! So I did what any loving parent would do... I set the timer for seven minutes. HaHa!
Zeke and I talked about consequences and he kept saying sorry. I felt that the deed justified the punishment and the kid had tortured himself enough, so I was done with it. As I walked out of the room, I guess Zeke disagreed because he walked right over and sat in the timeout spot. Haha! So I did what any loving parent would do... I set the timer for seven minutes. HaHa!
A couple of days went by and then I opened my Visa bill. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME????” I screamed out loud.
Do you know that little monster racked up charges of $231!!!
“ZEEEEEEKKKKEEEE!”
He actually pushed that “buy” button 16 times! Are you kidding me?
"NO iTHINGS FOR 16 DAYS!!!” I roared.
Rocco panicked this time and said, “Mom, he has already done three days so I will take half of his days left and we can split the last one.” Although, I was impressed with the brave child falling on his proverbial sword and also with his new math skills, I denied the request.
“Zeke pushed the button so Zeke does the time!”
Ugh! Stupid kids!!
My mom warned me about the age of seven, she said it was the first year of trying things and testing the limits. So, I called her to thank her for the heads up. Without that warning, I swear I would have thought he needed boarding school! LOL! We have also blocked the “buy” button for a safe guard. However, I must say. I thought we had already done that....Hmmmm....
I did feel a little bit better when my friend told me her niece spent $983 on virtual furniture in a virtual decorate your house app! Haha!
1 comment:
Good for you for doling out a punishment!
I have in-app purchases turned off on all our gadgets and I have it set to require my password immediately. On the iPad and iPod the kids use I have installing apps turned off. I have "restrictions" turned on and it requires a pass code to get into.
My husband can't even buy apps, lol!
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