swissarmy_wife

On our house we have a small mother-in-law apartment that we rent to a
single woman. She occasionally has visiting grandchildren that visit
with my oldest son (almost 10).

My son likes to go into our detached garage and use the tools and make
things. Spears, daggers, bows, whatever he thinks of at the time. I
have asked him many, many times not to have the tenants children
inside the garage because of liability issues. (It's a mess, lots of
"dangerous" things and tools) I trust my son in there. However, I do
not want to be responsible for the tenants grandchildren.

I just went into the garage to see how his project was coming along
and the neighbors grand-daughter was in there helping him. She was
using a set of chisels that we usually make sure we are present when
my son uses them. They are the sharpest thing we own at the moment.

First of all, I didn't really know how to handle this. I am a little
irritated that he invited her into the garage and I didn't know about
it. I asked her not to use the chisels, explaining that my husband
wasn't even comfortable with my son using them (Completely true).
Then I left them in there not wanting to break up the fun. I'm a
little lost as to what to do.

Should I explain to the tenant that her grandchildren are not allowed
into the garage or shed? Should I suck it up and let them do their
thing? How do I explain these things to my son respectfully without
him calling me a worry wort? Any thoughts? My worries about being
liable for for the tenant's grandchildren are getting in the way of my
parenting.

Pamela Sorooshian

On Aug 26, 2008, at 10:57 AM, swissarmy_wife wrote:

> First of all, I didn't really know how to handle this. I am a little
> irritated that he invited her into the garage and I didn't know about
> it. I asked her not to use the chisels, explaining that my husband
> wasn't even comfortable with my son using them (Completely true).
> Then I left them in there not wanting to break up the fun. I'm a
> little lost as to what to do.

What I'd probably do:

Remind him, later, not to have her in there without letting you know
first.
Go in and hang out. Maybe find a corner to sit and read a book, if you
want to just leave them mostly on their own, but with your eyes on
them just a bit.

-pam

Margaret

Making the garage safer is also something that you could do. If that
is too hard, maybe get a shed and move the things he can use to the
shed. You could also talk about which things you are comfortable with
him using with the tenants grandchildren and perhaps they could be put
in the garage when there are visitors.

On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 10:57 AM, swissarmy_wife <heatherbean@...> wrote:
> On our house we have a small mother-in-law apartment that we rent to a
> single woman. She occasionally has visiting grandchildren that visit
> with my oldest son (almost 10).
>
> My son likes to go into our detached garage and use the tools and make
> things. Spears, daggers, bows, whatever he thinks of at the time. I
> have asked him many, many times not to have the tenants children
> inside the garage because of liability issues. (It's a mess, lots of
> "dangerous" things and tools) I trust my son in there. However, I do
> not want to be responsible for the tenants grandchildren.
>
> I just went into the garage to see how his project was coming along
> and the neighbors grand-daughter was in there helping him. She was
> using a set of chisels that we usually make sure we are present when
> my son uses them. They are the sharpest thing we own at the moment.
>
> First of all, I didn't really know how to handle this. I am a little
> irritated that he invited her into the garage and I didn't know about
> it. I asked her not to use the chisels, explaining that my husband
> wasn't even comfortable with my son using them (Completely true).
> Then I left them in there not wanting to break up the fun. I'm a
> little lost as to what to do.
>
> Should I explain to the tenant that her grandchildren are not allowed
> into the garage or shed? Should I suck it up and let them do their
> thing? How do I explain these things to my son respectfully without
> him calling me a worry wort? Any thoughts? My worries about being
> liable for for the tenant's grandchildren are getting in the way of my
> parenting.
>
>

Sandra Dodd

--Should I explain to the tenant that her grandchildren are not allowed
into the garage or shed? Should I suck it up and let them do their
thing? How do I explain these things to my son respectfully without
him calling me a worry wort? Any thoughts? My worries about being
liable for for the tenant's grandchildren are getting in the way of my
parenting. -=-



Do you have homeowner's liability insurance?

If so, and if the tenant is willing to let her be in there, and if
you've given the kids safety tips and guidelines, I don't see the
problem.



Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

swissarmy_wife

Yeah. Your right. I'm glad I wrote on here instead of kicking them
out. I've had an awful lot of sleepless nights lately. It gets in
the way of my judgment sometimes.

--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> --Should I explain to the tenant that her grandchildren are not allowed
> into the garage or shed? Should I suck it up and let them do their
> thing? How do I explain these things to my son respectfully without
> him calling me a worry wort? Any thoughts? My worries about being
> liable for for the tenant's grandchildren are getting in the way of my
> parenting. -=-
>
>
>
> Do you have homeowner's liability insurance?
>
> If so, and if the tenant is willing to let her be in there, and if
> you've given the kids safety tips and guidelines, I don't see the
> problem.
>
>
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>