A comfortable home can make it easy for a teenager to forget how much work goes into providing everyday necessities like food, electricity, internet access, and shelter. In 2015, Heidi Johnson was struggling with her 13-year-old son, Aaron, who had begun acting as though he deserved the privileges of adulthood without accepting any of its responsibilities.
After earning a small amount of money through YouTube, Aaron used it to argue when his mother asked him to complete his homework, insisting he was a “free person.” Instead of continuing the argument, Heidi decided to give him a taste of what independence actually meant.
She wrote a blunt “roommate contract” and placed it on his bedroom door:
Dear Aaron,
Since you seem to have forgotten you are only 13, and I’m the parent, and that you won’t be controlled, I guess you will need a lesson in independence. Also, as you threw in my face that you are making money now, it will be easier to buy back all the items I bought for you in the past.
If you would like your lamp/lightbulbs or access to the internet, you will need to pay your share of costs:
Rent: $430
Electricity: $116
Internet: $21
Food: $150
Also, you will need to empty the trash Mon, Wed, & Friday, as well as sweep & vacuum those days. You will need to keep your bathroom clean weekly, prepare your own meals, and clean up after yourself. If you fail to do so, I will charge you a $30 maid fee for every day I have to do it.
If you decide you would rather be my child again, instead of roommate, we can renegotiate terms.
Love, Mom
Aaron wasn’t amused. When he found the letter, he crumpled it up, threw it on the floor, and left the apartment. But after cooling down, his attitude changed. He eventually approached his mother, returned some belongings she had purchased, and asked how he could work to earn his privileges back.
According to Heidi, the goal was never to actually make her 13-year-old pay rent, but to teach him that independence comes with responsibility—and that nothing in life comes completely free.