Woman Punishes Teen Son by Making Him Sleep in the Tree House on Christmas Eve

A woman opened up on Reddit after punishing her teen son on Christmas Eve. When her husband discovered what she had done, he told her she had gone too far with the punishment.

The woman posted her story on Reddit because she wanted to ask other Redditors if she had done the right thing. She believed her son deserved to be punished.

However, some Redditors also agreed with her husband and said what she did was wrong. Her post sparked a debate in the comments section.

Before jumping into the main story, the woman with the username hannahblyes claimed that she was an "easygoing" mother of four children. She explained:

"They don't have a lot of rules they have to abide by, it's simple, be respectful, do your chores, and for the 2 teenagers (15&16) be back before 10 pm."

The trouble began when her 16-year-old son broke one of the house rules. He returned home at 11 pm on Christmas Eve, which didn't sit well with his mother.

She revealed that she had called him ten times, but he didn't answer even once. So when he returned home and knocked on the door, she decided to punish him.

At six the next morning, she unlocked the door and allowed her son inside.

Instead of opening the door for him, she called him on his phone and told him to sleep in the tree house where she had left some blankets.

The boy tried explaining to his mother why he couldn't receive her calls, telling her he had been on a date with a girl she'd never met, but she refused to listen.

He also told her that his phone's clock lagged by an hour, so he didn't realize he was late already. His mother believed he was making excuses, so she told him to spend the night outside.

At six the next morning, she unlocked the door and allowed her son inside. Since he wasn't able to sleep properly, he went straight to bed and woke up at lunchtime, delaying their family tradition of opening gifts together on Christmas morning.

The family ended up opening their presents after having lunch. Everyone loved their gifts and thanked each other. The woman shared that her son went back to sleep again after thanking everyone for his gifts.

When her husband saw their son going back to bed, he asked her what happened. He blamed her for overreacting and making their son sleep outside.

He also believed their son would have slept better if she had put enough bedding in the tree house. He thought she went too far with her punishment.

Following her husband's reaction, the woman posted her story on Reddit to ask others if she did the right thing.

A user named SharkClub12 asked, "So you locked your minor child outside, in December, on Christmas Eve?" The user believed OP (Original Poster) was at fault for making her son sleep outside.

PrideofCapetown agreed and wondered why OP's husband didn't let their son enter the house. They believed the father could have saved his son from sleeping in the cold. Meanwhile, Academic_Snow_7680 wrote:

"OP put their child at risk because OP's ego was more important than her son's safety."

The user urged OP to change her approach to punishments in the future because they believed the children would "try to distance themselves from OP at the first chance possible."

mechanicBuckThirty also objected to the way OP punished her son. He said that it's understandable to punish children for not following rules, so they learn something out of it. However, he believed OP's punishment didn't teach her son any lesson, so it was useless.

Conscious_Ad_9785 asked OP why her son didn't have a key to the house. She shared that her parents gave her a key when she was 13, and she believed OP trusted her children, so giving them a key wouldn't be an issue.

The user added that OP's children would feel the house didn't belong to them if she didn't allow them to have their own keys. They would believe they were living in the house at their mother's discretion, and she could revoke it anytime. She added:

"You're taking away the security of having a home."

Most users believed OP was at fault because her punishment was too harsh. They thought she could have punished her son in a way that taught him a lesson.

Questions to Ponder:

Do you think OP went overboard with her punishment?

OP thought making her son sleep outside the house was the best punishment, but her husband disagreed. Some people might argue that she knows what is best for her children. However, others might think she didn't do the right thing by making her son spend the night outside.

If you were OP, would you allow your children to have a key?

OP's story suggested her son didn't have a key with him. If he did, he wouldn't have to sleep outside the house, and OP could come up with a more fruitful punishment. Some people might agree OP should give a key to her children. However, other people might think she has valid reasons for not giving a house key to her children.

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