Parents on Strike

Funny news but with a bit of a nanny-state twist... Yahoo/AP reports on one family dealing with a household of teenagers: bq. Parents Go on Strike, Move to Front Yard Even though the dishes, garbage and dirty laundry were piling up, homeowners Cat and Harlan Barnard were getting no help from their two children. bq. After begging and pleading with their 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to help out around the house, the Barnards decided they were fed up. So they went on strike � and moved out to the front yard. bq. "This was our last-ditch effort," Cat Barnard said. bq. Since Monday morning, the Barnards have lived in a tent in their front yard, going inside the house only to use the restroom or shower. The couple sits on lawn chairs and roasts marshmallows over a hibachi. The result: bq. But Cat Barnard says the strike may already be paying dividends. She noted that her daughter washed her own clothes for the first time on Tuesday. bq. "This is war," Cat Barnard said. "I love my babies, but I don't like what they're doing." The nanny-state issue: bq. Whether the couple's actions could be regarded as abandonment depends on how much guidance the parents are still providing and "if the children are suffering as a result," said Carrie Hoeppner, a spokeswoman with the Department of Children & Families in Orange County. I'm sorry Carrie but you do not have a clue as to what is happening. The kids needed a lesson and they are getting a very very good one. Your agency does not have jurisdiction in this case and don't try to make a case out of it. Governmental Child Protective bureaucracies in general have had a rather miserable track record so why don't you just put a fucking sock in it and go home...