Dad’s unique punishment for son, 9, divides parents – with some calling it ‘monstrous’

A father has admitted that he was so wound up by his nine-year-old leaving his bike outside at night that he decided to punish him unusually.

And, he said that even his wife looked at him like he was a “horrible monster” when he told her what he’d done.

Fellow parents were also shocked by the dad’s actions – though some supported him.

The bloke explained that his child, Tim, was “constantly” being told to put his bike in the garage so that it didn’t get stolen, but the little boy never listened, reports the Mirror.

So, when his father left for work in the morning and spotted the bike outside again, he “decided to show him that our warning could actually happen.”

He loaded the bike into his car and went to work.

Sometime later, his “distraught” son called asking if he’d seen it that morning.

The dad said: “I told him ‘No, I didn’t see it. Isn’t this why we always tell you to put the bike away?’ I calmed him down and told him that we could make a plan for him to earn a new bike when I got home for the day.”

When he returned home, he revealed the bike and said that he’d found it in a park nearby but warned his son that he “wouldn’t always be this lucky.”

He continued: “Later that night, my wife was telling me that it was super lucky that I happened to find the bike, and I told her that I had it the whole time and ran through what happened with her.

“She looked at me as if I was some horrible monster. ‘Why would you put our son through that? And why wouldn’t you at least tell me this dumb plan so I could stop you?’ she said.

“It’s not like I had it planned out. It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision as I was leaving for work, and she was still asleep.

“Tim was only missing his bike for a day, and I wasn’t giving him that hard of a time about it.”

Worried that he’d gone too far, the dad posted on Reddit asking for other opinions.

Even the man's wife disagreed with him
Even the man’s wife disagreed with him
(Image: Getty Images/Westend61)

Some defended him, saying: “You didn’t trash the bike, you didn’t throw or give away the bike, you just let your son see the consequences of his actions. Seems like he learned his lesson.”

Another replied: “Kids aren’t going to learn if they’re constantly coddled from reality. So I think this was a perfect way of making the lesson stick.

“One day of ‘oh no, my bike is gone isn’t going to kill him. Especially since he got it back at the end of the day. In the grand scheme of things, this was a gentle way of teaching him.”

But others were outraged, with one writing: “You taught your kid it’s appropriate to lie to get your way.

“You could have taught your kid that actions have consequences and made them earn their bike back. Instead you went with lying is fine behaviour.”

And a second said: “You are teaching your son two lessons. The one he remembers will be about lying and not trusting his own father. There has to be a better way to teach your son.”

What do you think? Tell us in the comments below…

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