Seven years ago, when her son told her he didn’t want or need her help anymore because he was grown up, this mother took things into her own hands. Even today, a lot of people can still relate to what she did.
Heidi Johnson was a single parent, so she knew she had to do more to teach her child to respect and obey her. Aaron had just turned 13 and was now too hard to handle. The teenager thought that since he was now a “adult,” he could do whatever he wanted without having to follow his mother’s rules.
If she asked him to do his jobs or homework, he would tell her no. He spent most of his time with a device in his hand.
At the time, Aaron didn’t have much on YouTube. But he was already making money from his uploads, so he thought he was financially stable and didn’t need to put any effort into school or home life.
It would be an insult to say that his mom was upset. Heidi got very angry because of this. She thought that he needed “tough love,” and she was ready to give it to him, just like any other mother would do with a misbehaving teen.
While her son was at school, Heidi wrote him a letter.
The letter says, “Since you seem to have forgotten that you are only 13, that I’m your parent, and that you won’t be controlled, I guess you will need a lesson in independence.”
She went on to say that now that he feels responsible about money, he can pay her back for all the help she gave him for free. He will have to start paying for everything, from his clothes to his utilities like power. On her long list were things like rent and utilities. Once he told her he was “independent,” she also gave him some extra jobs.
She went on, “If you decide you’d rather be my child again than a roommate, we can talk about changing the deal.”
After sharing a picture of the note on Facebook, she put it on the door of her son’s room. She was surprised to learn that her post could be read by more people than she had thought.
The next day, she was shocked to see that her number of Facebook requests had gone up by 100. She found out later that her letter had become very popular. But when her son found the note, he was very angry.
Heidi said, “He crumpled up the letter, threw it on the floor, and stormed out of the apartment.”
When his mother said she would do what was written in the letter, he didn’t believe her at first. But after an hour, he saw that she wasn’t kidding.
After thinking about it, he realized it was wrong to take the TV and other things out of the bedroom. He told his partner he was sorry.
Heidi’s advice to her son from six years ago is still getting a lot of attention. People are responding happily in the comments and sharing it on social media.
