When a punishment becomes a pattern, sometimes the only way to break it is by flipping the script.
So, what would you do if a constant threat turned into an endless game? Would you keep playing? Or would you take control in a way no one expects?
In the following story, a teen faces this exact situation with her mother. Here’s what happened.
My mom would take away my phone as punishment when I was 13 or so (I got it when I got my first job bc It was a 20-minute bus ride away). She would say to do x, or else, so I would or wouldn’t do it, and eventually, my phone would be taken away for a couple of days.
It didn’t matter if I did it because she would use the same threat the next day, so eventually, I would give up. She would go a couple of weeks before using it as a threat after giving my phone back, but it was her only solution.
When I was 15, I was sick of this pattern, so I bought a $30 safe, put my phone in there, and slept in the next day. I handed over the safe, and she couldn’t give me my phone back unless I wanted her to. I refused to do some things (like going to church and babysitting), and she couldn’t make me.
It didn’t take long for everyone to start getting annoyed.
I also refused to communicate with her through other people’s phones, so if I was staying at school for leadership, she would have to find someone to watch the kids so she could walk over (I mean, I wasn’t allowed on phones, right?).
My family was really annoyed that they couldn’t contact me, but my mother was trying to be stubborn. My mother had never seen me be determined to do anything before and thought she could outlast me.
By Month 2, everyone was begging my mother to give me my phone back: older siblings, the grandparent who drove me, and my dad. She just said to communicate through her, but she was getting annoyed.
By Month 4, she was basically begging me to take my phone back. She promised she got the point, but I didn’t think she did yet. I still had control, so I just refused to unlock the safe. My relatives were annoyed I was being stubborn, seeing that she offered to give it back, but this was the hill I was going to die on, so I ignored them all. Besides, had I learned the lesson yet?
After 9 long months, the mother never used the threat again.
Eventually, after 9 months of it being locked in a safe, I took my phone back and started using it again. I spent 9 months without a phone, and even though it made some things inconvenient, it was much worse for everyone around me.
My mom never even threatened to take my phone away again. I was a decent kid who helped a lot and did well in school, but sometimes you just don’t want to do everything you’re told to, so you tolerate the punishments.
She still takes away tech for my little bros, but they are younger and do stuff that kinda deserves it, but she didn’t try and force me to do stuff after this.
Wow! That’s one way to never face the punishment again.
Let’s check out how the folks over at Reddit feel about this story.
Here’s someone whose friends got tired of them not having a phone.
This person sees the point.
Ouch! These parents took her bedroom door.
This person’s friend refuses to carry a phone.
It’s amazing a teen could go this long!
Her family and friends probably though it would be over quickly – she really showed them!
If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.
