How often do your kids do something without thinking?
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CinderAbby · 08-04-2010, 12:51 PM

Well Abby just did - and it's not going to be cheap to fix it. We were just upstairs in my bedroom - Abby wanted to sit up there and have "lunch and a movie". For whatever reason, she opened the DVD player/recorder, walked away from it and then in the process of walking back to it (from the side) she walked right into it with her elbow (it's in an entertainment center and up high). Needless to say, the DVD portion is now jammed open. If she had done it 4 or 5 weeks ago, I wouldn't have cared as the DVD was junk and we were in the process of replacing it. I care now and am totally ticked because it's still literally a brand new machine - and with no paycheck and unemployment denied, I don't have the money to replace it. And when we come home from Disney, I won't be able to transfer video from my memory cards to DVD. I can't do the computer route because it just doesn't work right (the story of my life when it comes to electronics).

I haven't yelled at her because I do know it was a mistake and she realizes she did something wrong (she's almost in tears already), but because I won't yell at her, I'm fuming inside. So before I get really, really ticked, please tell me other parents have had kids that have been that careless at times.

guitardiva · 08-04-2010, 01:27 PM

Of course, all kids are careless at times. My son when he was younger had a bad thing about dropping/leaning his bike on anything without paying a lot of attention. Well one day he did it on my car and left a nice ugly dent. I was so mad. Accidents do happen and kids can be kind of absent minded at times. I have alway explained to them that what they did was careless and look what happens when you are careless.

**HiddenMickey** · 08-04-2010, 01:29 PM

Hey, I've been careless and had things break as well. It's not only a kid thing.
I'm so sorry that happened to your machine. Do you have any gadget-minded friends that might be able to figure out a way to fix it?

I'd try pushing it back from the other side and see if it slips back into place....

lazanya · 08-04-2010, 02:36 PM

I myself have been careless so many times, as well as my DH and my DD. I cannot even tell you how many expensive electronics that I myself have accidently broken.

It happens to the best of us.

Ashli · 08-04-2010, 04:16 PM

Oh Darlene, please do not think you are remotely alone on this one!! I feel like it's almost a daily conversation I have with DS(9) about thinking before you act and being aware of your surroundings. He has this wonderful (can you hear the sarcasm) habit of turning to stare at something if it catches his attention WITHOUT stopping if he is currently walking (no matter how crowded the place is). I could probably count in the millions how many times I've said "Please watch where you are going!" and how many times he's had to apologize to poor people/animals/things that he's run into. Good grief. You'd think with 5 dogs in our house, he'd be pretty good about keeping an eye on his path because one wrong move in our house and your falling over a dog, but once he gets outside all bets are off. Drives me insane.

Sorry about your DVD player!!!

scrappyjae · 08-04-2010, 04:29 PM

Lets see...how about the time my DS decided to clean the television with windex and sprayed about half the bottle on the screen, which dripped down into the television, which didn't work after that.

My DD, can't remember how many pairs of eye glasses we have been through. Lost, stepped on (in the floor of the car, why they were there ???), broken, lost again.

DS, food in the VCR. Cutting sister's hair, losing money all over the place. Breaking glasses, pots and pans, inside grills, the list goes on.

DD, well, she was another child that never looked where she was walking, just about knocked herself out one time, it was pretty bad and sort of funny (I know, I'm a mean parent) at the time. She is really a sweet child, but I don't think that I can ever see her behind the wheel of a car, she would weave a path of destruction down the road. This is why she is 16 with no plans right now for a learners permit or license. And I can't count the number of hand held game systems that she has "lost" over the years.

JoanneS · 08-04-2010, 06:01 PM

I think every kid has done something costly! Maclane once dropped his rock collection down the basement drain. The rocks got stuck in the pipe leading from the house to the septic tank, so we had to have a backhoe dig up the driveway and replace about 8 feet of special pipe and a guy with a jackhammer in our basement. $10,000 later, we could once again flush the toilet.

CinderAbby · 08-04-2010, 06:16 PM

Thanks everyone - I'm feeling better now. I know she didn't mean it and it could have been any one of us that did it. It's just another incident of my over-reacting (leaving for Disney in 3 days isn't helping the stress level). I thought the door was completely jammed and unfixable but Lenny with his electronics knowledge took it apart, fixed it and had it up and running again in under 10 minutes. Plus too it helps to know I'm not alone in having those moments. It just seems like it at the time when it happens.

Chrissi · 08-04-2010, 06:50 PM

My DH (the resident electronics nerd

) says to try pushing the open/close button while pushing gently or try pulling gently while pushing the open/close button.

If it's really jammed and the gentle coaxing method doesn't help, you should be able to open the case and poke around inside to see what's stuck. Our old DVD player used to occasionally eat DVDs. So we'd have to open the hard case because the DVD drawer would get stuck open. All you need is a screwdriver and a little patience. With some trial and error, you should be able to figure out what's stuck on your own.

coffeechef · 08-04-2010, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoanneS

I think every kid has done something costly! Maclane once dropped his rock collection down the basement drain. The rocks got stuck in the pipe leading from the house to the septic tank, so we had to have a backhoe dig up the driveway and replace about 8 feet of special pipe and a guy with a jackhammer in our basement. $10,000 later, we could once again flush the toilet.

Ouch!!! That out does my story when 18 yrs ago I paid over $100 for a pair of Vuarnet Sunglasses.... I left them on the seat of my car and my 3 yr old nephew stepped on them and broke them. I had forgotten all about that... well not really becasue Its the last time I ever bought a sunglasses that cost that much. I now pay about $12 per pair ... now if someone were sit on step on them....
Glad the DVD player was able to bix fixed... way to go Lenny

**Colexis Mom** · 08-04-2010, 09:16 PM

**HiddenMickey** · 08-05-2010, 08:44 AM

Yea for Lenny!!!

I'm so glad he got it working again.

coffeechef - I had a pair of Vuarnet sunglasses once too, had them for years, took good care of them. Then my sister asked to borrow them for a trip she was going on. She lost them! She had no idea that I had paid a lot for them and didn't think it was a big deal. I've never had a good pair of sunglasses since, even though I know that I'd take care of them.