Reply #12: I agree with trotsky

[amandae]

and the others about enabling her. I know it sounds harsh, but maybe jail time would do her some good. She is doing so many things that are illegal ... including stealing from you. Maybe jail would finally provide her with a deterrent from these activities in the future. Another suggestion for somewhere down the road would be family counseling.

Luckily this is one area where hubby and I agree about child-rearing (although I'll admit that my children are 7 and under right now). If one of them is doing something illegal and is arrested/threatened with jail time, jail is where they'll sit until they can get themselves out of it. Obviously I'll help them if it's a situation where they're innocent/arrested for protest, etc. I'll help them out. But if they're doing something blatantly illegal (like theft, drunk driving, etc.), I'll let them sit it out in jail. If they're under 18, heaven help them. The shit will be on when they get home. I just agree with my friend's mother (who had 6 kids) ... I'm not going into debt to fund the stupidity of one of my children. Especially at the expense of what I could be giving the rest of my children. My friend's mom told all of her children that if they're arrested they're on their own. They knew she meant it and it was a pretty good deterrent. I don't know if it will work or not, but I'll be using it as a detterent with my own kids, too.