text: Parents around the world are coming to a mother's defense after a letter detailing a "creative" punishment for her 13-year-old son went viral. 
   
   The mom wanted to teach her son, Aaron, a lesson familiar to kids his age: If you want to be treated like an adult, you have to start acting like one. 
   
   To make a point, she took away his clothes, comforter, Legos, stuffed animals -- even the lightbulbs in his room. If he wanted them back, he'd have to pay: rent: $430; electricity: $116; Internet: $21; food: $150. He would also have daily chores. 
   
   "I guess you will need a lesson in independence," Aaron's mom, who wants to be referred to as Estella, stated in a Facebook post. "If you decide you would rather be my child again, instead of roommate, we can renegotiate terms." 
   
   Estella Havisham 
   
   Estella told CBS News she came up with the punishment after her son walked in the door from school a few weeks ago and told her he didn't have any homework. Later that night, he ran into her bedroom, searching for colored pencils to "color something for school." 
   
   "That's it. You are not getting your computer, you're not going to have access to the TV," she recalled scolding him. "He sat at the end of my bed, and just started lipping off: 'You can't take that away from me. You can't control me.'" 
   
   The 13-year-old, who makes a few bucks here and there from his YouTube channel, fired back at his unemployed mom: "Well, at least one of us is making money!" 
   
   Estella, who has been unable to work due to health issues, said that was the straw that broke the camel's back. 
   
   "I wrote the letter to make a point on a lot of different things," she explained. "First off, you're my child, you don't get to talk to me that way. Secondly, you're treating me more like a roommate -- and not a very good roommate." 
   
   When Aaron read the letter, he stormed off, took a long walk and eventually circled back to his mom's room to apologize for his behavior: "I'm so sorry, mom. I'm really sorry. I was wrong. I was out of line. What can I do to start earning my stuff back?" 
   
   As Aaron completed his chores, Estella slowly began giving him his items back, including his precious Internet. 
   
   "I know that he knows it wasn't about making him pay money; it was about having gratitude," she said. 
   
   In the end, Aaron wasn't the only person who learned a lesson. Estella said she did, too. 
   
   "Don't be afraid to be creative -- think outside the box sometimes," she advises. "That's where I have the most success." 
   
   More than 160,000 people shared her letter and nearly 14,000 commented. 
   
   Some agreed, others disagreed with her parenting tactics. But in the end, both Aaron and Estella received praise. 
   
   "We need more parents like you," one Facebook user commented. 
   
   "I wish I were standing next to you. I would hug you sooo tight! And Aaron, kudos to you sir, for being mature enough to work with your mom on this," another replied. 
   
   Despite getting some harsh criticism online, the mom knows she made the right decision. 
   
   "My advice: You know your child best, don't second guess yourself," she said. "If you've made a decision for a consequence for your child, you know that's the right decision." ||||| Estella Havisham, a single mum to a 13 year old called Aaron, has attracted both wild applause and condemnation for writing this tough-love open letter, demanding that Aaron return to behaving like a child rather than a flatmate after he lied about doing his homework and was rude to her face. 
   
   Here’s the note: 
   
   It reads: 
   
   Dear Aaron, Since you seem to have forgotten that you are only 13 and I’m the parent, and that you won’t be controlled, I guess you will need to learn 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 and 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 a roommate, we can negotiate terms. 
   
   She then posted the note onto Facebook with the message below, where the whole post was shared over 80,000 times: 
   
   The child is going to have a rude awakening today after the words he exchanged with me last night. Not only will he find this on the door, but his mattress stripped, and the toys and clothes that I bought confiscated. He will have three options.. Buy his own, rent his clothes at $3 a day, or renegotiate his terms of being a child. Mama’s done playing games and being a doormat. 
   
   Positive response from parents everywhere 
   
   Let’s get one thing out of the way first – how cheap is the internet where they live!? 
   
   Estella set the post to ‘public’ on her page and soon people all over the world were adding their opinions, the majority being overwhelmingly positive: 
   
   “Kids these days need a hard lesson so that they become better adults and don’t take things for granted!” wrote one. “Well done! Parenting done right!’ 
   
   “Thanks for being the parent and not the friend,” wrote another. 
   
   And, “Good for you mom. I’m 65 years old, the 5th child of six. My parents were poor by many standards, but very hard working, honest people. Disrespectful behaviour to our parents simply was not tolerated. We were not abused but we knew crossing the line brought consequences. Thank you for loving your son enough to teach him about the real world.” 
   
   Unreasonable or attention-seeking? 
   
   But others thought Estella’s threats to charge her 13 year old money for rent and board were unreasonable. “Good luck getting the money! Wouldn’t you rather have them save to get their own place? Would be wiser or for their future college education if desired?” wrote one observer. 
   
   Others thought her decision to embarrass her son by sharing the post publicly proved that she was more interested in showing off her tough-love parenting skills than really teaching her son any valuable lessons. “Why embarrass ur kid on FB like this like really?” wrote one commenter. “You don’t need to broadcast to everyone how you discipline your child, just do it. You just want brownie points.” 
   
   Here’s what happened when he read the note: 
   
   For the most part, Estella seems to have a pretty smart attitude, and she went on to explain later that the note had the desired effect. “This hasn’t hurt our relationship,” she explained of the response she had from her son when she gave him the note. “He and I still talk as openly as ever. He has apologized [sic] multiple times. He even removed some luxuries from his room that I missed. And he is trying harder.” 
   
   She also clarified that she’s not really planning to charge him any money – Aaron earns a small pittance from YouTubing, which Estella knows wouldn’t cover any real expenses. “I wrote him a ‘bill’ to make a point,” she says. “Nothing comes free. Someone is making a sacrifice somewhere down the line.” 
   
   But are kids today really so terrible? 
   
   I would, however, dispute this commonly-held belief that ‘kids these days’ are significantly more rebellious or badly-behaved than previous generations. Who didn’t push boundaries at 13, 15, 17? Who didn’t mope sullenly or disrespect the value of money? As one mum said to me, “In fact, I’d say my teenagers push back less today than I did, because mobile phones mean I can keep track of them and know what they’re up to. They can get away with less.” 
   
   There are differences of course – parents work longer hours and have less time or inclination to discipline in the short moments they have with their kids. But perhaps some of those differences aren’t the fault of the family unit. Job security is much less straightforward or linear than it used to be, and the cost of living has skyrocketed. Can you blame a lot of kids for feeling listless or despondent about their futures, and acting out accordingly? 
   
   But nonetheless, Estella seems to have a pretty solid handle on how to effectively wrangle a teen. We’ll be interested to see if the positive changes last. Go Mama. 
   
   What’s the most creative discipline measure you’ve used with your kids? 
   
   More from Kidspot: ||||| Even if you love your parents more than anyone else in the world, it's hard to keep your temper from flaring up around them every once in awhile. Aaron Havisham, a 13-year-old from Australia, learned to treat his mom Estella with kindness and respect the hard way, after she took a tough love approach to punishing his misdeeds. 
   
   Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 
   
   Aaron lied about doing his homework and was rude to his mom's face — not cool at all. At some point during the argument, he even bragged that he was making his own money now. So Estella left him a note filled with epic tough love, explaining that he was going to act like a terrible roommate instead of a loving son, he could pay her like a roommate. 
   
   Facebook 
   
   If Aaron wants to turn on his lights or have Internet access, he'll have to make monthly payments: $430 for rent, $116 for electricity, $21 for Internet, and $150 for food. (That adds up to more than $700 a month.) He'll also have to empty the trash, sweep, and vacuum every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; clean his bathroom weekly; and prepare his own meals. Every day that he slacks off, his mom will charge him a $30 maid's fee. The note went viral on Facebook, racking up more than 80,000 shares. 
   
   Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 
   
   "The child is going to have a rude awakening today after the words he exchanged with me last night," Estella added. "Not only will he find this on the door, but his mattress stripped, and the toys and clothes that I bought confiscated. He will have three options... Buy his own, rent his clothes at $3 a day, or renegotiate his terms of being a child. Mama's done playing games and being a doormat." 
   
   There's no word on how Aaron dealt with the punishment, but we have a hunch that viral humiliation is enough to whip even the worst-behaved kid into shape. ||||| See more of Heidi Johnson on Facebook
target: – "Mama’s done playing games and being a doormat." That was an Australian mother's message to her 13-year-old son when she decided to charge him more than $700 a month for rent, electricity, Internet, and food, Kidspot reports. According to CBS News, it all started when the single-mother's son told her she couldn't control him and bragged, "At least one of us is making money," during a fight over homework. She's unemployed, and the teen apparently makes a small income from his YouTube channel. Deciding her son was acting more like a bad roommate, the woman—going by Estrella Havershim—wrote a letter to him outlining his new bills and shared it on Facebook, where it went viral, Seventeen reports. It's been shared more than 160,000 times as of this story. In addition to the above bills, the letter and its accompanying Facebook post assigned the teen chores in lieu of a $30 maid's fee and a $3 per day charge for renting his clothes, Kidspot reports. "If you decide you would rather be my child again, instead of a roommate, we can renegotiate terms," the letter concludes. Though she took flak from people calling the letter too harsh, she also drew support from people around the world, with one Facebook comment reading, “Kids these days need a hard lesson so that they become better adults." CBS notes another stated, "We need more parents like you." The tough-love letter apparently worked, with the rebellious teen eventually paying with chores and an apology instead of money. (For parents with bratty kids, there's hope on another front, too.)