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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DS1 has broken his netbook.

26 replies

Ormirian · 16/06/2011 15:48

he has smashed the screen with...beleive it or not... a bb gun pellet Hmm So cross with him. When we had a bit of extra money last year we bought him and his sister a netbook each to free up pressure on the family PC when they had hw to do. We can't afford to replace it.

It is covered by insurance but the excess means that we won't get enough money to buy a new one. But I have found out that the screen is replaceable for about 60. But i am sufficiently cross that I don't want to. I want to spend the money on something entirely different and tell him to do without.

I could put the money aside and put it towards an expensive school trip he's doing next year?

AIBU?

OP posts:
MrsTwinks · 16/06/2011 15:49

nope. if it was me, even if i did decide to fix it i'd make him live without it for sufficient time to punish him and make him realise what he lost iykwim.

TeamDamon · 16/06/2011 15:50

Is it not a case of - if he wants it fixed, he pays for it? And if he can't afford to/doesn't want to spend his money on that, then he goes without?

Deaddei · 16/06/2011 15:50

How old is he?
Can he pay for it himself?

Original poster
Ormirian · 16/06/2011 15:51

He;s 14. He gets a fiver a week but most of that is being saved for a new guitar.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ormirian · 16/06/2011 15:52

"even if i did decide to fix it i'd make him live without it for sufficient time to punish him " I considered that too.

Idiot! Angry

OP posts:
Pandemoniaa · 16/06/2011 15:55

If this was an act of random stupidity then I'd suggest he saves a month's pocket money towards the replacement screen. He can start saving towards the guitar when he's coughed up for the netbook repair.

TeaAndToast68 · 16/06/2011 15:55

well I think the new guitar goes on hold for the next 12 weeks.

thisisyesterday · 16/06/2011 15:55

no yanbu

he breaks it he pays for repairs.
or he should at least pay the excess

Pandemoniaa · 16/06/2011 15:56

I'm an idiot. Quite why I misread £5 as £15 I don't know. So yes, 12 weeks of saving should cover things nicely.

dingdongmrs · 16/06/2011 15:58

To be honest if he is that desperate to have it fixed he will have to put the guitar on hold! at 14 years old he is old enough to understand or at least learn that he may have to go witho0ut something if he needs something else.

or let him decide, the guitar, or the laptop?

Original poster
Ormirian · 16/06/2011 15:59

I don;t think he is desperate to have it fixed. He was worriede about telling us but he wasn't bothered about not having it - which made me even crosser TBH. I don't spend hard-earned dosh on things that he doesn't even care about.

Spoken to DH - BBgun is going in loft. We are discussing laptop later.

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ConnorTraceptive · 16/06/2011 16:01

Sod the guitar tell him the £5 will go toward replacing the screen it will be a valuable lesson learnt

ConnorTraceptive · 16/06/2011 16:02

I would still force him to pay for a new screen even if he's not that bothered about having it. The fact that he will have to wait even longer for the guitar which is something he DOES want will teach him to be more responsible

harassedinherpants · 16/06/2011 16:06

My dh fixes computers, and you can probably do it yourself if either you or dh is a bit techy minded. There are lots of tutorials online, google the make and model number, and you can buy the screens from Ebay or PC parts supplier. Much cheaper than having it done!

WowOoo · 16/06/2011 16:09

His guitar money goes towards a new screen?

So frustrating when they are not bothered.
He might be bothered when he can't get online and needs/wants to.

Original poster
Ormirian · 16/06/2011 16:09

Thanks harrassed. I did wonder about that but we have a really good independent shop that will give us a quote - if it's not too bad I will go with that (if we fix it!) rather than run the risk of messing it up any further.

We are adopting a dog soon - adoption fee is about the same as the ins will pay us. Right now I'd rather have the dog than the son.... Hmm

When do boys learn common sense?

OP posts:
MrsTwinks · 16/06/2011 16:11

When do boys learn common sense?

well my DH is 30 and still hasn't, so you might be screwed

welshbyrd · 16/06/2011 16:19

My DD has recently broken her iphone, she had had it all of 17 days, thankfully I bought it second hand[would never have bought her a new one]

If I get it repaired she will not get it back for 12 months

She is not having school lunch money now, instead she is making do with packed lunch, and she is grounded until the summer holidays Smile

And it banned from owing a mobile phone irrelevant of the price for 12 months

A bit OTT maybe, but its the third phone she has broke within a few weeks of having it

WhoAteMySnickers · 16/06/2011 16:24

I would make it his choice... the guitar or the netbook. But whichever, he pays for it.

Pumpernickel10 · 16/06/2011 16:24

welsh is it the screen she's broke? As I know how to replace them mine broke ordered a new one off eBay for £6 and followed instructions on YouTube to fix it, fixed several now :)

Original poster
Ormirian · 16/06/2011 16:29

Ah welssh Blush

Well you see I did that too..... with my iphone. I got massage oil behind it. Phone still working but you need x-ray vision to see anything. So perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on DS. But mine was a genuine accident not complete idiocy!

is it really that easy to fix? Interesting

OP posts:
welshbyrd · 16/06/2011 17:25

Im the one needing advice here guys, after all this issue with DD iphone, as above
DS7yo, has not been able to find his DSi xl for a couple of weeks, so I told him to find it
DD even helped him look
Whilst making tea, DD friend was looking up toward DD bedroom, talking, she picked a letter up from the floor, and shouted "ok I will do it now" towards DD bedroom
She is still grounded so I sent DS out to get note,friend had throw it on the floor
Letter [in my DD writing] said"please go to DD best friends house, and get her to bring brothers DSI xl back now"
Turned out she had lent my sons DSi xl to her friend 4 weeks before with telling anyone

Where do I go from here? she is already grounded until summer hols, because of her iphone, her koney has already been stopped, and her lunch money replaced with packed lunch, what the hell can I do here, for this new event
Help, im really struggling here,
Sorry for hijacking thread OP Sad

welshbyrd · 16/06/2011 17:29

pumpernickel, screen is ok, a little crack in the bottom right corner thats it, the problem is when switched on it just goes white, nothing else

Its a iphone 3gs

MrSpoc · 16/06/2011 17:44

take her best toy off her for a week or two.

Op how the hell did you get massage oil all over your Iphone? What was you doing with it?

Original poster
Ormirian · 16/06/2011 19:59

It's very boring sadly. I had a bottle of massage oil on my dressing table (I have back problems and DH is good at massage Grin. I lost the lid of the bottle. I left my Iphone there and the cat knocked the bottle over - when I got home it was well and truly marinated in it Sad

OP posts: