Driving up … a MOAT mom is met by her 9-year-old standing outside the front door shedding crocodile tears.

“What happened?”

“I can’t tell you. We’ll get in trouble.”

That was all she needed to hear. “Tell me now…. What happened?!”

“They took $193 for the pizza”

“What?!!”

Several hours earlier, the mom and her husband left very able-bodied teens at home in charge of their younger siblings. Knowing that dinner would be at play while they were gone, the mom instructed her 15-year-old to order pizza for the gang. Being a take charge kind of guy, he was all over the task.

When the time came to order, he decided to do it on-line. It was easy enough. They had ordered before. All you have to do is pick and click. Then in about 30 minutes, piping hot pizza will come knocking at your door. The mom had forgotten to leave money for the pies, so she told Charles in Charge to “borrow” from his money-bank brother. (glad I’m not the only borrower!) No problem, because she would replenish the cash right when they returned home. Surely the kid wouldn’t miss 40 bucks (give or take a few).

When the pizza arrived all the kids were surprise by the number of pies meeting them at the door. The amount differed a bit from what Chas had ordered – or thought he ordered. Apparently, while placing his order their internet had lapsed. So he might have hit “send” more than once. Dominoes tried to confirm, but when no one answered the phone (“you get it”, “no YOU get it”, “no YOU!!”), they figured it was good to go.

When the mom raced in to see exactly what had happened, she caught the kids quickly wrapping the extra pieces in foil for the frig. The $193 was actually only $90 and all was well. The consequence? The kids will have to eat all the extra pizza before they can get anything else. Needless to say, they won’t forget the incident. They will answer the phone next time. … And they will enjoy their snack.

Moral of the story #1 – always start high when hitting a parent with potential disasters. When the real amount ends up being MUCH lower, the relief far exceeds any frustration that might have been associated with momentary flakiness.

Moral of the story #2 – don’t expect perfection when the kids are in charge. Celebrate the fact that they’re trying and lean into the learning opportunities that present themselves through the successes and flubs.

I LOVE that these parents are putting the jobs on their kids plates! It’s great in so many ways.

Thanks for sharing!!! … and for walking the road with me.

-Kay