Most adults know that being a grown-up isn’t as simple as it seems to a child.
Kids might see things like food in the fridge, a comfy home, and unlimited internet, but they often don’t understand the work it takes to have those things. One mom decided to teach her disrespectful son a funny, “real world” lesson to show him that “nothing comes for free.”
In 2015, Heidi Johnson was struggling with her defiant 13-year-old son, Aaron. She explained that Aaron “wanted the benefits of growing up without the responsibility that comes with it.”
Aaron had started making a little bit of money as a YouTuber and thought he didn’t have to follow his mom’s rules about doing his homework. He even stormed out of her room, saying he was a “free person” because he was “making money.”
In response to his behavior, the single mother wrote a “tough love” letter to Aaron and shared it on Facebook. Almost ten years later, her post has gone viral again.
Johnson’s note begins, “Since you seem to have forgotten that you’re only 13, and I’m the parent, and that you don’t want to be controlled, I guess you need a lesson in independence.” In what she called a “roommate contract,” she laid out the rules Aaron would need to follow if he wanted to act like an adult.
She continued, “Since you’re earning money now, it should be easier for you to pay back for everything I’ve bought for you.” Johnson added that if he wanted things like his lamp, lightbulbs, or access to the internet, he’d have to pay his part of the costs.
In her letter, Johnson listed the conditions Aaron would need to follow, including paying for rent and utilities. She also expected him to cook his own meals and help with regular cleaning around the house.
Johnson signed the letter, “Love, Mom.”
Taking Action
Living in Venice, Italy, Johnson shared that when Aaron saw the letter taped to his door, he crumpled it up, threw it on the floor, and stormed out of their apartment.
Johnson felt he just needed some time to think—and she used that time to start taking back some of the things from his room.
Once Aaron had time to think, he asked his mom what he could do to start re-earning his privileges. He even gathered more items from his room and handed them to her, asking how he could earn them back.
Johnson explained that this was never about making him pay her back; it was about teaching him to understand the cost of things. Aaron quickly realized he couldn’t afford rent, utilities, or food on his own.
Online commenters supported her approach, praising her for her creative discipline style. One person wrote, “Great job! Nothing in the agreement is harsh, but it will teach him a lesson he’ll remember.” Another said, “You’re an amazing mom for giving your son a chance to learn and grow.” A third comment added, “Bravo for being a parent and not just a maid.”
Some people accused her of publicly shaming her son. In response, Johnson wrote another post saying she was “not ashamed” of what she did.
“A teenager will push their limits,” she explained. “They’re in a stage where they’re stepping into adulthood but still rooted in childhood… I can’t send this child into college or the workforce with an attitude of ‘I’ll get to it when I feel like it’ when a boss asks him to get a job done. That’s how the real world works.”
Johnson ended by saying, “Nothing in life is free. Somewhere, someone is making a sacrifice.”
With her blond hair & blue eyes, she was making waves in Hollywood – but look at her now
Kathleen Turner rose to fame in the 1980s with her strength and attractiveness – many consider her one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood.
It is this fortitude that has helped her through the many goods and bad times the actress has experienced over the years.
Kathleen Turner was reared in a home with four other children despite having a difficult upbringing. She and her siblings were raised in both Venezuela and London. She experienced tragedy when, at a young age, her father passed tragically suddenly while mowing the lawn of their Hampstead house.
The foreign service expelled Kathleen and her family from the UK a month after his death. Turner moved her family to Springfield, Missouri, where everyone was still mourning their father and their former residence..
After relocating to New York to pursue an acting career as an adult, Tuner at last experienced calm. Although she had some success on the stage, her big break came when she was cast as the femme fatale in the 1981 film “Body Heat.”
Three years after starring next to William Hurt, Turner was given a chance to co-star with Michael Douglas in the famous “Romancing the Stone.” Douglas was in a rocky separation from his wife Diandra at the time of filming, and he and Turner developed some feelings for each other.
“We were in the process of falling in love – fervent, longing looks and heavy flirtation. Then Diandra came down and reminded me he was still married,” Kathleen said.
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She eventually married the property developer from the film, Jay Weiss, in 1984. The two had their only daughter together soon after. Rachel Ann Weiss was born on October 14, 1987.
Unfortunately, the couple’s relationship began to fracture as they started raising their daughter.
“I’d make the movie companies give me long weekends or provide extra tickets so my daughter and husband could come to me. But there was a sense in the marriage the effort was all on his side, which made me feel guilty. It was one of the reasons it ended. I started to feel very oppressed. I thought, ‘Hang on a minute, you’ve done very well out of being married to me also,’” Kathleen explained.
Their marital issues reached a breaking point when Turner played Martha in the Broadway revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 2005. Acting in eight performances a week caused Turner to become exceedingly busy, and it seemed Weiss didn’t want to spend any time with her when she was at home.
Turner received a Tony nomination for her performance as Martha during that period, and the two split peacefully.
In 1987, the actress received an Oscar nomination for her performance in “Peggy Sue Got Married.” In the 1980s, she continued to make movies and appeared in a number of blockbusters, three of which starring Michael Douglas.
Kathleen, however, suffered a medical setback in the 1990s when her neck locked, preventing her from turning her head. She also lost the ability to use her hands because of swelling in them.
“It was crippling,” Kathleen said. “You stop taking things for granted when you lose them, even temporarily. What I took for granted – my athleticism, my ability to throw myself around, and just be able to move however I wanted to. When I lost that, that was a real crisis of self: who am I if I cannot do this?”
Rheumatoid arthritis, which is defined by the swelling of the lining of our joints, turned out to be the cause of her unfortunate circumstances. Chronic pain brought on by this illness can be challenging to manage.
“When it was first diagnosed, I was terrified because they said I’d be in a wheelchair,” Kathleen explained. “I thought, ‘If I can’t move, I can’t act.’ Acting isn’t just what I want to do. I was born to do it. It’s at every point of my living. The idea of not being able to do it was the most frightening part – that and the constant pain.”
As a pain reliever, Kathleen used booze and medications. Although they made it easier for her to work, her propensity for consuming vodka caused her to pass out during dress rehearsals for plays like the 2002 theatrical production of “The Graduate.”
After the episode ended, the actress genuinely entered rehab, where it was discovered that she was not an alcoholic. She was instead instructed to just keep better note of when she took her prescriptions and any negative side effects.
The actress now practices yoga and pilates to help her manage her discomfort and stay flexible.
The celebrity started to truly concentrate on her theatrical profession while managing her pain better. Although she occasionally continued to work in cinema and television, she mostly went back to her origins as she got older, even starring in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” on stage in her forties.
“Because I knew that the better roles as I got older would be in theatre, which is absolutely true, so that was a little foresight on my part of which I am justly proud,” Kathleen said.
The actress has been able to devote more time to her passions by concentrating on the theater, including volunteering for Amnesty International and working for Planned Parenthood of America.
Turner has dedicated her life to supporting other women as a fervent feminist and has done so for the majority of her life. Send Yourself Roses, Gloria Feldt’s 2008 biography of the actress, accurately depicts her ideas.
“We are the first generation of women who are financially independent. Women are going back to work,” Kathleen said. “They’re reinventing themselves. I thought I could support that, even increase that. So it has got a lot of philosophy in it and a lot of my beliefs.”
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