you should have taken pictures of all the damage, written up a bill of damages and given it to the thug’s parents.

since they are irresponsible parents they will not pay it, so take them and the damage fotos to small claims court.

take the whiskey bottle to his school principal and request the sports coach be there, explain what happened and show them the damage pictures.

by doing nothing you just taught the kid he got away with bad behavior yet again.

discuss this with all your social circle so they know never to trust this kid with anything again.

if you lose the ‘friends’ who reccomended this thug, you are now ahead of the game since they can’t be trusted…

But certainly a close friend would understand the kid would have to work off the damages. ? It wouldn’t hurt to have the kid worried if he didn’t ..he would be reported. And he should also know that even if his friends did do most of it and he didn’t know all of it when happening …HE was the one who initiated it with the invite to party. It all comes back to him.

I haven’t read the comments yet as just wanted to share my thoughts first.

I am so sorry that happened to all of you. What an awful feeling of violation and privacy invasion it must’ve been. particularly the girl’s clothing and the panties of younger one. That would really anger me. YUK. Just thinking they went thru those things. I’m sorry about your fish and fish tank and all the other things.

That woman is obviously not a friend or a good one anyway. I do not respect her at all. Overreacting??? See how she feels if it happened to her. To not acknowledge why you would be upset, or that her son behaved irresponsibly is so irresponsible and disingenuous on her part. Terrible parenting! In a way …I’d be more angry with her for her attitude/lack of appropriate response. Apparently the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with sense of accountability.

If that had been one of our sons (It would not)- oh boy …they would be held so accountable. They would be apologizing,and backing it up with having to help clean up …maybe even do some additional work for free if you would have him and pay for damages. And ..I would want the name of the so called friends and they would be hearing from me too.

I think a lot of us may’ve made poor choices when we were younger, but destruction of someone’s property, etc., is crossing the line. He made a bad decision and should be taught there are consequences. I believe in mercy, forgiveness and second chances …except he was more worried about HIS loss than the emotional harm and destruction of your property and subsequent cost.

And …I would hate to see them get kicked off a team because it’s good to be involved in sports and not partying it up all the time …but some things have to be earned. He broke trust, was inconsiderate and disrespectful and selfish and a liar. What were his consequences? and I don’t mean with his family. He should be accountable to you and your wife… so that perhaps he learns a lesson in empathy, and respect. And I don’t mean to be punitive …but to hopefully experience remorse and learn a valuable life lesson. People do stupid things sometimes and doesn’t mean they are bad people.. but, made bad choices …maybe actually end up appreciating the opportunity to make up for it. But ..that would have to be a collaborative effort between adults. I’m guessing you all don’t ever want to them again.

You said, “His dad said that he had “misgivings” about letting him watch the house and that junior let him down again.” I did feel concern when dad commented “let him down again.” Seems like he has a mother who sugar coats and possibly a dad who berates …which kills spirit and can cause kids to live up to their label. Of course I have no idea and you can have the best parents and kids can still go off track.

Who recommended them?

Again, sorry that all happened and a shame you even had to have any concern/worry while you were away on holiday.

I may’ve mentioned it here some time in past ..but years ago ..when there was this kids show on tv in which kids had to race through some house and trash it to win, etc …some little kids (9yrs old), broke into a coworkers home when they were out for the night. They came back to a house destroyed to the tune of 40,000.00 and this was back in the early to mid 90s – not sure exactly. But 40,000.00 back then mean t a lot more than it does now. the insurance company covered it, but said if they ever put in another claim, they would be dropped. the parents never even apologized or had the kids do clean up, etc.

Oh, and I never got the money back, nor did she ever pay for her ER visit.

I got news for you, dude, if the guy’s dad is any kind of friend he’d be right there beside you when you walked into the office to nail his kid’s ass to the wall. If he decides to Not Be Your Friend after this kind of crap went down, then he’s a friend you didn’t need to have. Man the *fuck* up.

One of our biggest lessons in this ordeal was the old saying “never work with family or close friends.” The kid was a relative of one of our closest friends. It’s easy to say that our friend would understand if we pressed criminal charges and got the kid’s scholarship revoked, but easier said than done. Our friendship means more than the $1500.

Jamie has the approach that we’ll use in the future – if we ever leave anywhere without the animals. Our vet mentioned this to us as she was treating our puppy for possible bowel blockage after we got home. Long story.

Am absolutely investing in a few hidden cameras.

And I’m not sure whether or not this kid was the one who was digging through my daughter’s drawers, so I can’t confirm who the perv is. All I know is that those underwear were promptly put in the garbage.

On the bright side of things, we do get to keep finding little surprises all over the house. This week we found a bunch of maxi pads, a “Beer Pong Ball University” ping pong ball, a partially-used tube of Abreva, and two more beer bottle caps.

By accepting his half-a@#$ shifting of responsibility is only encouraging this sociopathic behavior pattern. AND it sends a poor message to your OWN children.

Something to think about.