# What's the greatest amount of damage (measured monetarily) your kid ever did to your stuff? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283 "2014-12-15T14:16:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/1 "2014-12-15T14:16:39Z")
My kid just destroyed a laptop. We spent about $650 on it about a year ago. That’s our record for one-time massive damage incidents. Make me feel better about it. Tell me your even worse horror stories! ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/2 "2014-12-15T14:49:07Z")
Not my kid, but me. When I was a youngin’, we were at the cabin playing lawn darts. I was quite bad at it, hit my Grandpa’s brand new car. Multiple times. Caused a bunch of dents to the roof and a broken headlight. Then, a few years later I managed to lawn dart my foot to the ground. Payback, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/3 "2014-12-15T15:21:00Z")
We don’t have kids, but a few years ago our dog chewed up my husband’s brand new $500 Oakley sunglasses. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/4 "2014-12-15T15:47:28Z")
So far nothing over about $200, but my oldest son just got his learner’s permit, so check back with me in six months. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/5 "2014-12-15T15:54:54Z")
Well, when he was a kid my father was playing with matches and burned the top half of the barn down. Adding to the loss cost was of course the cost of needing to rebuild the whole roof. As a kid myself I think the worst I did was fry some ram and a hard drive after mucking about in the family computer. Not even worth as much as your laptop. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/6 "2014-12-15T15:55:57Z")
Another “not my kid” story. I visited a friend a couple of days after his young son had “driven” the car. The boy was car crazy and loved to sit behind the steering wheel and pretend he was driving. My friend had left the car running in the driveway and his son climbed in and was pretend driving. Until he managed to shift the car into drive and then he was driving for real. But it was a short trip of about twenty feet. Just long enough to drive the car into the corner of the house. The damage to the car and the house cost thousands of dollars. And his boy - despite a good-sized bruise on his forehead - thought it had been the greatest day of his life. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/7 "2014-12-15T16:01:40Z")
No kids myself. Though over the years my dogs have done plenty of damage. Mostly shoes. Mostly. Anywho. A point of note, as a kid, I learned something. 1950’s era farm tractors are not impervious to BB guns. Radiators are fragile they are. Ooops. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/8 "2014-12-15T16:20:33Z")
Our cat broke a $12,000 piece of art. I would have blamed the children, but they were not home. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/9 "2014-12-15T16:27:32Z")
Are losses which are covered by insurance considered fair game here? Surely there’s someone out there whose kid burned down their house. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/10 "2014-12-15T16:30:45Z")
At different times, he’s: 1. Slashed a large hole in the back of an expensive La-Z-Boy recliner 2. Put a hole in a bathtub. We haven’t replaced the chair or the tub! Both would be rather costly, however. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/11 "2014-12-15T16:42:39Z")
Kids surreptitiously slipping small plastic toys in the openings of the old-style heating vents leading to furnace fire. $1000 deductible to replace the $7000 furnace we had just paid off and other sundries. When son number 1 was 3 years old he ran away while I was napping (and he was supposed to be napping). After a visit from the police to return him and a fairly pleasant meeting with Child and Family Services we had to buy about $200 worth of locks etc. A week later he ran away again while Mrs. Zeke was in the basement doing laundry. Another round of cops and less congenial CFS and about $500 more worth of locks and alarms. I love my kids 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/12 "2014-12-15T16:48:17Z")
Not technically mine but she was living with us for several years so ---------. She decided to take some Comet and a couple scotch-brite pads and clean a couple pieces of furniture I had to work on. Turning a couple grand in antiques into what basically amounted to firewood. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/13 "2014-12-15T19:38:37Z")
Wrecking cars was my contribution when I was a kid. Skyrocketed my dad’s insurance rates. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/14 "2014-12-15T20:15:20Z")
We had a toilet that would run incessantly. You fixed it by lifting up the tank lid and doing something. My kid lifted up the tank lid, did that thing, then slammed the lid down.\* $500 for new toilet. $5,000 to fix the effects of the resulting flood. \*He says he didn’t slam it, he “dropped” it. Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/15 "2014-12-15T20:22:32Z")
Childbirth itself can be pretty damaging, so I guess depending on how you want to define “stuff,” moms can end up with actual physical damage that may result in a higher than average hospital bill. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/16 "2014-12-15T20:26:44Z")
I have 3 kids, each has had at least one wreck. I only carried liabilty insurance on their vehicles, as they were all older cars. Say an average of $2,000 each over the three vehicles. Older kids have more expensive oopsies. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/17 "2014-12-15T20:42:10Z")
I had a dog who quietly chewed the rungs of all of mom’s wooden dining room chairs. She didn’t quite “ruin” the chairs and they sure didn’t cost my parents more than $200 but they ended up using the damage as an excuse to buy a $3000 dining room set. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/18 "2014-12-15T21:39:03Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Childbirth itself can be pretty damaging, so I guess depending on how you want to define “stuff,” moms can end up with actual physical damage that may result in a higher than average hospital bill. I saw an interview where someone asked Robbie Williams what it was like watching his wife give birth and it’s impact to her… bits and he said " It was like watching your favorite pub burn down" ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/19 "2014-12-15T21:56:02Z")
Well, the early emergency C-section is costing me 2K after insurance. I still get twinges and have this weird numb area. So he’s only 5 months old and already we’re in the red. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283/20 "2014-12-15T22:06:04Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I had a dog who quietly chewed the rungs of all of mom’s wooden dining room chairs. > > She didn’t quite “ruin” the chairs and they sure didn’t cost my parents more than $200 but they ended up using the damage as an excuse to buy a $3000 dining room set. Pets should probably be a separate thread, but in terms of dollar amount of damages I’m positive my kids are ahead. I’m not even adding it up. I think they were worth it, but if I added it up… I did have two cats that ruined a very nice, middling expensive area rug within one week of its purchase. They wrecked it. We ended up putting double-sided tape down pretty much all over it (really not the look we wanted I might add) and they still continued their reign of terror on it. The dollar amount is not important, we spent months looking for just the right rug, something we both liked (this is harder than you might think). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-amount-of-damage-measured-monetarily-your-kid-ever-did-to-your-stuff/707283.md?page=2)