Any parent can tell you that keeping a child out of trouble is hard work. But, at the end of the day, it’s a responsibility you signed up for at the time of their birth. This month, a Kansas mother learned an expensive lesson in parenting when getting distracted at a wedding reception cost her more than a $100,000…
Amanda Goodman and her family were at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center for a wedding reception when the incident took place.
“I think there were a few different parties going on; bridal showers, birthday parties,” she told 41 Action News. The entire reception had gone well for Amanda right up until the end as she was getting ready to leave. As she started saying goodbye to the bride’s father, a commotion suddenly broke out.
“I hear yelling, ‘Where is your mother?!'”
The community center’s surveillance camera shows Amanda’s five-year-old son Troy had toppled an expensive, glass sculpture in the community center’s main walkway.
In the video, you see Troy fooling around with another child. At one point, he approaches the sculpture and attempts to pick it up. Not being able to support its weight, the boy drops the statue, which crashes to the ground, and the two children quickly leave the scene.
When Amanda was informed of what had happened, she was stunned to hear that the sculpture was worth a whopping $132,000— money she is now expected to pay.
Insurance refuses to help cover the costs, claiming the mother was negligent in supervising her son.
Amanda vehemently disagrees, stating:
“My children are well-supervised but people get distracted.”
In fact, Amanda seems to lay some of the blame on the community center, noting that the sculpture was “in the main walkway. Not in a separate room, not plexiglass, not protected, not held down.” Additionally, she says her son suffered bruises and scratches to his face as a result of the incident.
The sculpture was called ‘Aphrodite di Kansas City” and had been on loan to the city by the artist Billy Lyons.
According to People, the sculpture took Lyons two years to complete, and the head and arm are currently damaged. “I want to be reimbursed for the amount of time that I spent on it for what I think it’s worth,” he said.
Amanda said she’s now looking at using her homeowner’s insurance to pay the fine— but she still thinks the price is too expensive for what she considers to be an innocent mistake.
“If my child intentionally defaced property, we would absolutely figure out a way to put ourselves out there to be responsible and pay for the damages to make sure the lesson was reinforced without any question,” she told Daily Mail UK. “In this particular situation our five-year-old was just being a little kid and there was no malice or intention to damage any property.”
“We are sorry it happened,” she told People.
“It’s an unfortunate accident with a big price tag.”
Since being publicized, Amanda’s story is going viral. Unfortunately, however, people don‘t seem to support her perspective.
Twitter was rife with individuals angered by the mother’s statements.
“‘Shouldn’t have left the display in reach of him.’ Should’ve told the kid not to run around treat the place like a playground in the first place!”
“This woman should have been supervising her son. He was running around indoors but she was nowhere to be seen. It’s totally right that she should be charged for the damage.”
“Sorry but she should of had eyes on her small child. How did she not notice him touching that! Always someone else’s fault.”
Do you think she deserves the criticism?
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