“My son sat me and his mother down last week and told us he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant. He is only 17 and she is 16. I told him I was proud that he came forward to tell me, but I didn’t get too far into the discussion before he told me that they are keeping the baby.
Both have not graduated high school, and frankly, both are quite irresponsible. According to him, having a child is ‘easy’ and ‘not really that hard’. We tried to persuade him to look at other options, but he was adamant that they were going to have the kid and that was the end of that.
Since then, the house has been quite tense. Any talk of the situation is immediately shut down and my son refuses to see what we are attempting to show him. So, instead, I have decided to teach him that kids are more difficult than he initially thinks. Since my son told us they were pregnant, I have done the following:
I wake him up twice a night, 2 hours apart after he has fallen asleep. I open the door, scream as loud as I can until I know he is awake, and I shut the door. I’ve done this 5 nights in a row.
I purchased a sack of flour for him and dressed it in a diaper. I have made him change the diaper every 2 hours, and if he doesn’t, I shut off the internet until he changes it. I will sometimes smear Nutella in the diaper for added effect.
While playing one of his games, I told him his ‘baby’ wanted to be held. Giving me a truly s***-eating grin, he told me he has no issue playing his game and holding the baby. I placed the sack of flour in his arms and he continued to play basically one handed. While he was doing this, I went to the kitchen, grabbed a small cup of applesauce and splashed it on his shoulder while he was playing. I told him that his baby spit up and he might want to pause his game to take care of that.
I have not allowed him to go to the movies or hang out with his friends at their house. When he presses me for a reason, I tell him, ‘You don’t have a babysitter. You can go if you take your sack of flour with you.’ He has not gone anywhere in a week.
Yesterday, I did my best practice fall in front of his friends who were over and then wailed and cried until he came over and started talking to me. I told him babies demand attention, and he will have to get used to this. This was the last straw for him.
After his friends left, he accused me of being mean and ridiculous with the wants and needs of a baby. He told me I am being completely unrealistic. I reminded him that he himself was an incredibly fussy baby, and everything I have done so far he has done to me in the past.
His mother tells me I am being an a-hole and to let him make his own decisions, but I just don’t want my 17-year-old shackled to a baby when neither of them are ready for this.
Tell me the truth; Am I being too much of an a-hole here? I just want him to realize how hard this is going to be, and to at least look at options.”
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