How much should she pay?

[lovelyshoes]

I think this is weird. Does she earn money? I don’t know if she’d get the concept and I don’t see this being a punishment that fits imo. I’d make her clean up the bathroom to the extent she can and give her some extra chores or something.

[joenali]

Umm what? She’s 8. She needs reminders to do things. 8 year olds are still leaning habits. Remind her to turn the water off when she’s done. She doesn’t need to pay you anything.

[jinkies]

Huh. It would not occur to me to invoice my 8 year old for that. Especially if it is the first time it has happened.

[redheadk]

Nothing. This is a ridiculous response. Remind her and keep a close eye on it for a bit.

[Susie]

My oldest isn't 8 yet, but things like nose wiping on her sleeve, no matter how many times I repeat myself, is something she does sort of reflexively and no amount of paying cash would change it.  As for leaving the water running, similarly, that sounds like distraction, lack of attention, etc., but I'm not sure charging her cash for it would serve much deterrent value for the future.

I would be more upset about the wasted water than the cost on my water bill, which $5 would surely cover.  That's the part I'd focus on her understanding first.

[countthestars]

If it hasn't happened before, I would have a conversation about both the environment and the fact that you have to pay for water but I would not charge her.

[Deleted]

My answer depends on whether she owns her own large suitcase.

[docholly]

I sometimes accidentally leave a window open when I turn on the air conditioner. How much should I be punished?

Uh... it seems like an honest mistake. Even adults are distracted. I would remind and not require payment.

[docholly]

Jan 13, 2020 10:40:01 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

My answer depends on whether she owns her own large suitcase.

If this behavior isn’t corrected now, she definitely will grow up to be a suitcase borrower.

[joenali]

Jan 13, 2020 10:41:43 GMT -5 docholly said:

I sometimes accidentally leave a window open when I turn on the air conditioner. How much should I be punished?

Uh... it seems like an honest mistake. Even adults are distracted. I would remind and not require payment.

Probably with your life. That’s a pretty bad offense.

[docholly]

Jan 13, 2020 10:44:18 GMT -5 joenali said:

Jan 13, 2020 10:41:43 GMT -5 docholly said:

I sometimes accidentally leave a window open when I turn on the air conditioner. How much should I be punished?

Uh... it seems like an honest mistake. Even adults are distracted. I would remind and not require payment.

Probably with your life. That’s a pretty bad offense.

Farewell and adieu 😢

[icedcoffee]

I missed the OP, but from the context I think I get it.

Coincidentally, my 3 year old left the water running yesterday in the bathroom. I'm going to take the money out of his piggy bank.  

[megster20185]

Jan 13, 2020 10:33:41 GMT -5 lovelyshoes said:

I think this is weird. Does she earn money? I don’t know if she’d get the concept and I don’t see this being a punishment that fits imo. I’d make her clean up the bathroom to the extent she can and give her some extra chores or something.

She has a lot of tooth fairy and birthday money saved up.

[megster20185]

Jan 13, 2020 10:38:46 GMT -5 countthestars said:

If it hasn't happened before, I would have a conversation about both the environment and the fact that you have to pay for water but I would not charge her.

We do have this conversation constantly as she likes to take longer than necessary in the shower.

[hamster]

I'm so glad I'm not alone in my reaction to this.

At most I'd make her clean the bathroom.

[megster20185]

Jan 13, 2020 10:57:45 GMT -5 hamster said:

I'm so glad I'm not alone in my reaction to this.

At most I'd make her clean the bathroom.

There was no mess. Sink wasn’t clogged or anything so it all just went down the drain.

[joenali]

My 15 year old is as absent minded as a 90 year old man. He just has a lot on his mind and gets distracted. If we made him owe us money each time he did something wrong, his whole savings account would be wiped clean. We have to tell him all of the time to turn the basement light off when he leaves. But we forget sometimes too.

Kids, even 15 year old ones are still learning.

[ohgillian]

I mean, I do sometimes make my children pay for things. It gets the point across. But I missed the OP, so, I dunno.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2020 11:13:11 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I mean, I do sometimes make my children pay for things. It gets the point across. But I missed the OP, so, I dunno.

Do you make an 8-year-old pay for wiping her nose with her hand and then leaving the water running for 2 hours after she washes her hand?

Did you know that 8 is old enough to never wipe your nose with your hand? (I would LOVE to hear what second and third grade teachers have to say about that.)

[minniemouse]

I think I missed something. the only thing I’ve made my dd pay for is a library fine. The rule is library books live on a specific shelf when not actually being read but she forgot to put it back, so I didn’t know it was missing when I returned the books. It was located the next day, and she paid the ten cent fine.
It may seem ridiculous but it worked. She hasn’t made that mistakes again- and she has a lot of money in her piggy bank so ten cents wasn’t an impact at all.

[pandora89]

I would be so wealthy if I started charging my H for things he absentmindedly does that I keep reminding him not to do. Maybe I should start.

[joenali]

Jan 13, 2020 11:17:05 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Jan 13, 2020 11:13:11 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I mean, I do sometimes make my children pay for things. It gets the point across. But I missed the OP, so, I dunno.

Do you make an 8-year-old pay for wiping her nose with her hand and then leaving the water running for 2 hours after she washes her hand?

Did you know that 8 is old enough to never wipe your nose with your hand? (I would LOVE to hear what second and third grade teachers have to say about that.)

So much nose picking and hand wiping the nose in second grade. So, so, so much.

[ohgillian]

Jan 13, 2020 11:17:05 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Jan 13, 2020 11:13:11 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I mean, I do sometimes make my children pay for things. It gets the point across. But I missed the OP, so, I dunno.

Do you make an 8-year-old pay for wiping her nose with her hand and then leaving the water running for 2 hours after she washes her hand?

Did you know that 8 is old enough to never wipe your nose with your hand? (I would LOVE to hear what second and third grade teachers have to say about that.)

No. Definitely not. 

[megster20185]

Jan 13, 2020 11:13:11 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I mean, I do sometimes make my children pay for things. It gets the point across. But I missed the OP, so, I dunno.

My 8 year old left the bathroom sink running this morning and I found it 2 hours later. I deleted my op because I was thinking about making her pay for the water she cost me but the responses I got made me feel bad about it. I feel like she does need to be punished for this though. Everyone keeps saying to have her clean up the mess but there was no mess. The sink wasn’t clogged so everything went right down the drain.

[ohgillian]

Jan 13, 2020 11:21:33 GMT -5 megster20185 said:

Jan 13, 2020 11:13:11 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I mean, I do sometimes make my children pay for things. It gets the point across. But I missed the OP, so, I dunno.

My 8 year old left the bathroom sink running this morning and I found it 2 hours later. I deleted my op because I was thinking about making her pay for the water she cost me but the responses I got made me feel bad about it. I feel like she does need to be punished for this though. Everyone keeps saying to have her clean up the mess but there was no mess. The sink wasn’t clogged so everything went right down the drain.

That's a tough one. There's not an obvious natural consequence (except paying), but you want her to learn about wasting water. I mean 2 hours is a lot of water! What about having her watch a few kid-oriented videos about water conservation and then she has to write down 3 things she learned? I see a bunch when I googled "videos for kids about water."

[megster20185]

Jan 13, 2020 11:36:10 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

Jan 13, 2020 11:21:33 GMT -5 megster20185 said:

My 8 year old left the bathroom sink running this morning and I found it 2 hours later. I deleted my op because I was thinking about making her pay for the water she cost me but the responses I got made me feel bad about it. I feel like she does need to be punished for this though. Everyone keeps saying to have her clean up the mess but there was no mess. The sink wasn’t clogged so everything went right down the drain.

That's a tough one. There's not an obvious natural consequence (except paying), but you want her to learn about wasting water. I mean 2 hours is a lot of water! What about having her watch a few kid-oriented videos about water conservation and then she has to write down 3 things she learned? I see a bunch when I googled "videos for kids about water."

Thank you! I never even thought about something like that. This seems perfect.

[lovelyshoes]

Jan 13, 2020 10:52:39 GMT -5 megster20185 said:

Jan 13, 2020 10:33:41 GMT -5 lovelyshoes said:

I think this is weird. Does she earn money? I don’t know if she’d get the concept and I don’t see this being a punishment that fits imo. I’d make her clean up the bathroom to the extent she can and give her some extra chores or something.

She has a lot of tooth fairy and birthday money saved up.

I don’t think paying you back is going to give her any lesson, especially since the money wasn’t earned. I feel like losing money is a lesson that works when you have done something to earn it, then it hurts to lose money.
I think watching a documentary is a good idea.

[isabel]

Jan 13, 2020 11:42:57 GMT -5 megster20185 said:

Jan 13, 2020 11:36:10 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

That's a tough one. There's not an obvious natural consequence (except paying), but you want her to learn about wasting water. I mean 2 hours is a lot of water! What about having her watch a few kid-oriented videos about water conservation and then she has to write down 3 things she learned? I see a bunch when I googled "videos for kids about water."

Thank you! I never even thought about something like that. This seems perfect.

I totally get why you're upset and the urge to find a suitable punishment. I agree that learning about the consequences of wasting water is a better exercise and would align more with *why* I would be upset. Because for me, it isn't about the cost of the water, but about the fact that so much was wasted.

[InBetweenDays]

Make it a teachable moment rather than a punishable one. Educate her about the issues with wasting water, and about how lucky we are to turn on a tap and have pure drinking water 24/7. And teach her why that shouldn't be wasted.

I'm not saying she won't make the same mistake again, but I think it will be more impactful than punishing her.

ETA: Ha, or basically ditto ohgillian

[nessness]

Where I live, that amount of water would cost 36 cents (assuming a flow of 1 gallon/min). I guess you could have her pay 36 cents, but I think talking with her about the importance of water conservation (or showing her a video, as PPs suggested) would probably have a bigger impact.