incident while grandmother watching children

[gersha]

My mother in-law was in charge of babysitting my neice and also asked in my daughter could come spend time with them. While she was watching both children she wasn't paying attention and they had thrown rocks at her car. There were dents and cracked windshield. She already paid deductible and had windshield replaced. But now mentioned that for the dents she would possibly go after our home owners insurance since it took place at our home. Curious as to what our options are?

 

[army judge]

Most honorable people would simply offer to pay for the damages.
It isn't about YOUR options, it's about which option granny will choose to get her car repaired.
Pay the gentle, kind, old lady; teach the little children a very valuable lesson about NOT welching one's obligations and responsibilities.
After you've done that, instruct the children NOT to play with rocks and to respect the property of others.
Finally, apologies all around for the misdeeds of the rock throwing mob.

 

[mightymoose]

It doesn't matter much that she was paying attention at that particular moment. Parents are responsible for damage caused by their children. You shouldn't make her do it the hard way, it could end up costing you even more.

 

[ElleMD]

Agree. Your child caused the damage, you are liable. Granny may have been able to prevent the damage with closer supervision (or not- kids don't generally announce their every action before doing it), but as the parent you were responsible for teaching your child not to throw rocks and damage others' property. If the rocks were thrown hard enough to cause that kind of damage, your child must be old enough to know better. A young toddler would not have the strength or accuracy to break a windshield or dent a car.

 

[txls]

And if you want Granny to babysit again someday...take care of Granny's car.

 

[Betty3]

Grandma already took care of the windshield - help her out here & get the dents fixed. She was kind enough to babysit.

 

[disagreeable]

Obviously granny was not doing the job she volunteered for. Lucky it was only her car and not your child's life. Allow her to think about that each time she washes her car. It was her failure to supervise not yours that caused the damage. I stand by that answer with one caveat. If you are rich and granny is not, you should foot the bill if the car is not very old. Also, both girls should be given a reasonable amount of home chores each week and use 1/2 of their earnings to make payments to granny.

 

[mightymoose]

It was her failure to supervise not yours that caused the damage.

I have to disagree with that. The children caused the damage. Parents are responsible for what their children do.

 

[disagreeable]

Ummmm, what part did you miss where mom n dad went out and granny was the adult in charge? Perhaps you should open a business selling babysitting restraints. Then you can securely bind your children into a fixed area by chain, so there is nothing they can touch and you only need a designated adult nearby to be in charge if they start choking or something.

I have to disagree with that. The children caused the damage. Parents are responsible for what their children do.

 

[ElleMD]

Neither parenting, nor babysitting means never taking your eye off the child. Two children of an age old enough to cause that kind of damage should be able to play outside in the yard together without Granny (or Mom, Dad, sitter) hovering over them. Even if she was in the yard, that doesn't mean that she was standing right next to them as they picked up and threw the rocks. Legally, parents are always responsible for the damage caused by their children, whether that be at someone else's house, a store, at school, or elsewhere.

 

[mightymoose]

Ummmm, what part did you miss where mom n dad went out and granny was the adult in charge?

That has absolutely no relevance to the situation.