SD just turned 12. She bought herself an iphone in the spring. She wanted a waterproof case for her birthday. It can go up to 6 feet of water for 30 minutes. I thought this was a bad idea but its the only thing she asked for so DH got it. She goes back to BMs, takes it in the pool and now its busted (of course). It will cost $150 to replace. Case company says they are not liable for damage.
I'm making DH deal with this, I told him that I have a lot on my plate right now so he has to negotiate with BM for this and paying for SDs braces (which we are behind on). He isnt answering her calls so now she is texting me. Thanks DH!
I think we are at least 50% responsible but he tends to get argumentative with BM and I worry he will refuse to pay any of it. We are insanely broke right now to make this all so so amazing.
Re: Busted phone - who pays?
At 12 she knew better waterproof case or not, she broke she buys a new one. But I'm a meanie and my kids don't get phones or their own computers unless they buy it themselves.
I bought my 13yo's first iphone along with the otterbox and her first computer. When she cracked the screen, she could still use it but it was difficult. She is a gamer and it finally stopped working. She had to pay to replace it and then her computer crashed.. I did bend and let her use one of mine for a bit until she saved the money to replace that.
I don't think this is a matter of 50/50 like the braces, She bought the phone, You bought the protective case she wanted, the phone still got broken so I agree that she should be the one to pay for it.
My Loves= SD 18 SS 16 SS13 DD13 DS10 SD6 SD5
If it costs $150, why don't you and Bm chip in $40 a piece to pay for the chores and she saves up for the $70. I let my SS give me random gift certificates and even pennies to pay his part if he destroys something and wants it replaced. The rest of it he works off by pulling weeds, cleaning windows, picking up dog poop in the yard and cleaning off/wiping down the bathrooms (except the toilets.) It teaches kids an important lesson when they have to work for and then pool their money to get things.
The case is great, IF you are willing to put in the time and effort to ensure that it is working because the company will not replace the 650 dollar iphone if it gets wet.
My opinion is that your SD pays. She is old enough to read all the directions carefully and follow them. This is a lesson for her to learn to take extra special care of her things that cost so much. I see kids as young as 6 and 7 getting and breaking their iphones and their parents keep replacing them. Does not teach them the value of such expensive items. Just my 2 cents.....
We have very limited control of the situation. We are long distance so DH can't really make her do chores and I was informed this summer that they don't have chores at BMs house. I think if DH suggests that SD pays BM will get really pissed and start a fight but I will let him know what you guys said and then I'm washing my hands of this!
BFP #1 11/07/2012 EDD 07/09/2013 M/C 11/22/2012
BFP #2 02/05/2013 EDD 09/19/2013 Arrived via c-section 09/27/2013
My Loves= SD 18 SS 16 SS13 DD13 DS10 SD6 SD5
Agreed - SD pays for it. It will be a good lesson for her to learn.
XSD broke 2 phones in short order (I heard ever excuse in the book, but I am pretty certain she just wanted a new phone) and I told her if she broke or lost the 3rd one, she was without a phone until she bought her own replacement.
She bought her phone and low and behold...she kept that one a heck of a lot longer. We never bought her a phone again. They were all freebies or she purchased herself.
It's not yours or your BM's responsibility. She can get a cheapo off of ebay if she needs a phone fast, and work toward replacing it with a high dollar one again if she wants.
I'll update when I find out from DH what went down.
I would also try to figure out why it failed o be waterproof, see if the valves are broken etc.
DH found some online tutorials on how to fix it (he's an IT guy) so they are shipping him the phone. If it doesn't work, SD volunteered to pay half and work off the rest. (She's such a good kid). So we would split half with BM so thats like $35.
I'm glad it went so well. I never know because sometimes BM and DH get caught up in that "I have to win" mentality. I was with littlejen. It was a bad idea, we did it anyway so I think we did have some responsibility here but its all going to work out.