{"id":216040,"date":"2025-09-10T17:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/216040\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T17:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:25:10","slug":"who-should-be-on-the-hook-when-a-soccer-ball-destroys-a-neighbors-prized-possession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/216040\/","title":{"rendered":"Who should be on the hook when a soccer ball destroys a neighbor’s prized possession?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? <\/strong>Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here<\/strong><\/a>. (It\u2019s anonymous!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Pay Dirt,<\/strong><\/p>\n

A month ago, our 10-year-old son \u201cAdam\u201d accidentally kicked a soccer ball into our neighbor\u2019s yard. Ever since, my wife \u201cEllen\u201d and I have been in a dispute about the fallout.<\/p>\n

The ball knocked a glass sun catcher from a tree, causing it to shatter on their patio.\u00a0Unfortunately, it was an expensive sun catcher\u2014$200. We paid our neighbors so they could replace it. The dispute is about whether Adam should pay us back.<\/p>\n

Adam gets $20 in allowance per week, and I think he should have to reimburse us. Ellen doesn\u2019t think Adam should have to be on the hook for it since it was an accident because \u201cthat\u2019s what happens with kids sometimes.\u201d I think 10 is old enough to take responsibility for something that gets damaged!<\/p>\n

\u2014No Glass Pass<\/p>\n

Dear Glass Pass, <\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all, $200 for a sun catcher? That seems steep to me, but that\u2019s beside the point here.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re right, this is a great opportunity to teach Adam about money and responsibility. I understand where your wife is coming from\u2014accidents happen, and this was an unusually expensive one. But instead of viewing it as punishment, could you try framing it as a valuable lesson in financial responsibility and real-world consequences?<\/p>\n

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    This isn\u2019t about teaching him to keep soccer balls out of neighbors\u2019 yards\u2014that\u2019s going to happen again. It\u2019s more about learning how to handle the inevitable financial setbacks that happen to all of us.<\/p>\n

    If he\u2019s getting an allowance already, he\u2019s old enough to understand the value of money. Your suggestion is an ideal way to show him how it works\u2014a real world scenario that won\u2019t set him back forever, but will also teach him that financial stability isn\u2019t always guaranteed.<\/p>\n

    Could you compromise with Ellen and have Adam pay for half of it? Ten weeks of allowance might feel overwhelming to a kid, but five weeks would still drive the lesson home without feeling too overwhelming for him.<\/p>\n

    Next time you talk about this with Ellen, frame it as a perfect teaching opportunity rather than a punishment. You\u2019re giving Adam a chance to learn an important life skill in a relatively low-stakes situation. Afterall, one of the best ways to teach kids about money is to include them in real-life financial conversations<\/a> and decisions.<\/p>\n

    \u2014Kristin<\/p>\n

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    The latest sex, parenting, and money advice from our columnists delivered to your inbox three times a week.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pay Dirt is Slate\u2019s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here. (It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":216041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[600,255,1087,159,5597,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-216040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-personal-finance","10":"tag-relationships","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-slate-plus","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115181172980704161","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}