Legalese With My Son
I came across a typed-up contract which one of my sons (who shall remain nameless) signed 5 years ago. Seems kind of funny now, though I doubt it was then. Seems like it had something to do either with him staying up until 3 every morning talking to a female classmate on a regular basis, or running up a $500 phone bill. And I believe that his father and I informed him that he could come up with a contract, stating how he would behave in the future, and what the penalty would be for infractions. Following is what he came up with, which may be helpful to other parents facing similar dilemmas:
I, (name of son or daughter), do hereby solemnly state that without fail, I have not telephoned anyone, male or female, after the hours of 9 p.m. and before 6 a.m. since the year of our Lord, 2004, Dec. 6. Furthermore, if proved guilty, by a subsequent phone bill, I do hereby willingly agree to the following fair and just and righteous punishments:
1. There will be no phone in my room, now and for the rest of my childhood.
2. I will pay any bills to Lizdumb, Faldumb, and others out of my Christmas money.
3. I understand that if I cannot be trusted with a telephone, I may also not be trusted with higher forms of electronics, for example, my computer, which I may build.
4. I understand that I may still be allowed to build a computer, as long as it does not include a keyboard, mouse, monitor, or hard drive.
PS this was before cell phones were readily available.
