Son Refuses To Help Mom Around the House, Regrets It After Ambulance Takes Her Away — Story of the Day

A boy lies on the couch and plays video games all day instead of helping his mom around the house. Life teaches him a painful lesson and makes him mend his ways after his mother is rushed to the hospital.

Sabrina considered herself a failure. She and her husband had divorced two years before, and she had been raising her 13-year-old son Jim on her own since then, but she hadn't been very successful.

Jim wasn't a terrible kid by all means, but he wasn't the best either. He didn't have any bad habits and never got into trouble, but he was lazy, careless, and insensitive. His attitude worried Sabrina.

Like his father, Jim never appreciated Sabrina. He never asked her about her days or offered to help her, and if she ever asked him for help, he refused her in no time.

One afternoon, Sabrina wasn't feeling particularly well. She asked Jim to take out the trash, but he didn't even bother replying to her until she was in front of him, in the living room, fuming in rage.

"I asked you to do something, Jim! Why can't you just listen to me for once? I'm sick of you and your selfish attitude!"

Jim's eyes were fixed on his video game, and he didn't even look at Sabrina.

"JIM!" Sabrina snatched the controller from his hand. "I am asking something!"

Jim sprang to his feet. "Mom! Are you crazy? I'll get killed! My game…Give that back!"

"Take the trash out! Now!"

"What? Mom, come on! Okay, cool, if you pay me 10 bucks, I'll do it now."

"Pay you? What?"

"That's your job, mom. Why should I do your job for you and that too for free? Nope, not happening!"

Sabrina lost her cool. "And what about the cleaning, cooking, and laundry I do for you, Jim? Why am I not paid for it?"

Jim slumped on the couch. "That's your job, mom. You don't even go out to work. You just sit in front of a computer screen! It's all so simple for you, but you keep complaining."

Jim's smile faded. "Mom! Are you okay? Mom, get up! Oh no!"

Sabrina's eyes welled up. "Wow! I keep complaining, huh? Fine. Don't annoy me if your lunch is late today. I'll complete the cleaning and then start on lunch."

Jim laughed and took the controller back from her. "The pizza's going to be here in 10 mins. I know your card details," he winked.

Sabrina gave up. She always knew teenage children could be a handful, but Jim was a different story. Did all the single moms with teenage children struggle like her? she wondered.

Eventually, Sabrina took the trash out by herself. She was feeling a bit light-headed when she returned to the kitchen. She had some water and decided to make herself something to eat.

Meanwhile, Jim was lying on the couch, still playing a video game. He had to start the game again because the last round got messed up due to Sabrina. A couple of minutes later, the doorbell rang, and the pizza arrived.

Before eating lunch, Jim decided to freshen up and change into comfy clothes. He quickly ran to his room. Suddenly, he heard a loud thud from the kitchen.

"Mom, you okay?" he asked. Sabrina didn't reply.

"That's not cool, Mom! Don't tell me you won't talk to me because I didn't take out the trash!" he chuckled as he dashed down the stairs.

But as he entered the kitchen, his smile vanished, and his heart began to pound faster. The flour tin was on the floor, and so was Sabrina. "Mom! Are you okay? Mom, get up! Oh no!"

Jim dashed over to the sink, got some water, and sprinkled it on Sabrina's face, but she didn't wake up. "Mom, come on! What's wrong?"

Jim immediately dashed to the living room, grabbed his phone, and dialed 911. "My mom…she collapsed. Please send the ambulance quickly!"

A couple of minutes later, which seemed nothing less than an eternity, the ambulance arrived, and Sabrina was taken to the hospital. Jim couldn't accompany her as he was a minor. Thankfully, their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Green, was kind enough to step in to look after Jim while Sabrina was away.

"She's going to be alright, boy. Calm down," she told Jim, who wouldn't stop crying.

"Can we go to the hospital, please? I want to see mom!"

"Not if you keep crying, Jim. Stay strong…" she said, patting his back.

When Jim and Mrs. Green arrived at the hospital, they learned Sabrina had collapsed due to exhaustion and would be discharged in a couple of days.

Mrs. Green told Jim not to get worried. "I'm here, okay."

But oh dear, those days with Mrs. Green were nothing less than a rollercoaster ride for Jim. The older woman was kind, caring, and lovely, but she was a terrible cook. And she would cook huge portions of everything!

"So Jim, did you like the food?" she would ask every day, and Jim couldn't say no to her face. He forcefully swallowed the food with water almost every night, and she never took his hints if he complained about her cooking. One morning, she burned the toasts, and because they were out of bread, he had to manage with it.

Mrs. Green also made him run for errands! And because she was old, she couldn't do much cleaning around the house, and Jim had to do it. He even took out the trash when she asked him.

By the time Sabrina was discharged, Jim had already learned a hard lesson. He learned to respect the hard work Sabrina was putting in every day. So before she came home, he planned a little surprise for her to apologize to her.

When Sabrina arrived, she couldn't recognize their home. The lawn had been mowed, the rooms had been vacuumed, and the entire house was spick and span.

"Hey, mom. Welcome back," Jim said shyly. "This is for you…." He gave Sabrina a bouquet of her favorite flowers, which he'd bought with his pocket money, and apologized to her.

"I'm sorry, mom," he said. "I was pretty mean, and I didn't know how hard your job was. I'll try to be better."

"Oh, Jim!" Sabrina hugged him. "Did you do all this? Really?"

"Yeah, mom, but Mrs. Green helped me."

"I'm proud of you, Jim!" said Sabrina in tears. "I am so proud of you! I love you, my son. Oh, I'm glad I didn't fail as a mother..."

What can we learn from this story?

• Kids should help their parents when they can around the house. Sabrina was exhausted from chores, but Jim ignored her requests for help until she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
• You won't understand someone's situation unless you walk in their shoes. After helping Mrs. Green while Sabrina was in the hospital, Jim realized the work his mother did around the house was not easy.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who constantly mocks her unemployed wife for doing nothing and finds a note after an ambulance takes her away.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.