While looking at the Chicago Tribune, the headline 'Bad mothering' lawsuit dismissed caught my eye. Eager to learn about some mother with horrific parenting techniques, I took a look at the article. Surprisingly, I found myself to be on the mother's side of the argument. It turns out this poor woman's kids were suing her with ridiculous claims such as harassment for threatening to call the police if they did not wear their seat belts. The claims only became more laughable as I read on. Some of them including "inappropriate" birthday cards, fighting about dress prices, and not buying enough toys. More surprisingly, the children who filed the lawsuit in 2009, are now aged 20 and 23 years old.
I could not get over my shock after reading the article. It was very hard for me to understand why these kids would want to intentionally harm their own mother both financially and emotionally. The article suggests the motive came from the father of the children and ex-husband, who was seeking revenge on the mother who filed for divorce years earlier. Although this may have partly been the reasoning behind this absurd lawsuit, the alternative motive was obviously money.
The moment these kids decided to contact an attorney, they also made the decision to value money over family. It was truly worth it, in their minds to potentially sacrifice their relationship with their mother in order to make some money. I think this story shows how much control money can have over people. The children's' desire for money was greater than the concern for their mother's feelings, most likely putting a large strain on their relationship. It is so sad to me that someone jeopardize their family ties to become that much richer. This story proves that money has become too large of a priority in America (for some people), to a point that more important values are being left behind.
This is a very interesting article, and shows how much times have changed. Money is now way to important to us, and is the only thing on our minds. Everyone's only concern is how much money they will make, or finding the best sale on an item in order to save their money as much as possible. I think a story like "Into the Wild" puts a new perspective into our minds, and shows us that money is not in fact necessary, and that people can still live very happily without it.
ReplyDeleteI started to laugh when i read that these adults, not even children, were suing their mom, the person who raised them, for such small and petty things. They are clearly getting the selfish gene from their dad's side. I, like all other teenagers, get frustrated with my parents when they don't let me stay out past curfew or when they won't let me have whatever i want. The difference between me and those children is that i am somewhat rational, like i hope most people at new trier are, and can step back and think about all my parents have done for me and how much i appreciate them.
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