Nicole's 14-year-old daughter overslept on a school day. Then she gave her a whole bunch of attitude and ignored her on the way to school, making her other two kids late to school in the process.
Nicole was so angry with Cara that she quickly wrote a sarcastic letter to school to explain her lateness, blaming it on a "condition" that many teenagers suffer from on a daily basis. Then, she ordered Cara to turn the letter into the attendance office.
Little did she know, the letter would go viral after reluctantly making it public on Facebook.
Nicole decided to teach her daughter a lesson about consideration and responsibility. Not only did Cara have to turn in Mom's embarrassing letter, but her phone was also taken away from her in a very unconventional way.
"I am very proud of her and I love being her mom. She was just having a bad morning," Nicole wrote on Facebook. "Still, I feel it is important for all of my children to realize that no matter what kind of mood a person is in, they are still responsible for their own actions and they are expected to be aware of how those actions affect other people."
Scroll down to see the controversial tardy note in question…
Credit: Nicole Poppic / Facebook
Nicole Poppic is a photographer and stay-at-home-mom from Northern California. She describes herself as a "wife of the most awesome guy around, Mom to the best kids ever, Kisser of Boo-Boos, Maker of all Foods that are delicious, Cleaner of Bathrooms."
Recently, Nicole's 14-year-old daughter Cara overslept on a school day — leading to an unexpected stint as a viral mom superstar.
While Nicole's son and youngest daughter were ready to leave for school, Cara talked back and argued with Nicole over how much time she had to get ready, what she was going to eat for breakfast, and pretty much anything else Nicole said to her.
When Nicole and her three kids finally loaded into the car, Nicole realized they were running extra late.
She began lecturing Cara about being more considerate and responsible, but Cara just ignored her and listened to music on her iPhone.
Angry and frustrated, Nicole reached over and took the phone off Cara's lap, unplugged her headphones and threw the phone out the car window.
"No matter how awesome and well behaved your teen is, between the hormones and the natural separation between parents and kids that is supposed to happen during the teenage years, there are going to be moments that you butt heads," Nicole writes on Facebook.
Before Nicole dropped Cara off at her high school, she dropped off her other two kids, which meant Cara would show up at school even later.
Cara told Nicole she'd need to turn in an "excuse note."
So, Nicole scribbled an excuse note on a piece of looseleaf paper (above) — but Cara was so embarrassed by its sarcastic tone that she refused to turn it in. Nicole responded with, "Ok, then WE will take it in there." Together, the mother-daughter duo walked into the attendance office. The clerk cracked a smile and handed Cara her tardy slip.
Since Nicole has friends on Facebook who always appreciate her sarcastic sense of humor, she shared the tardy note online so only her friends could see it.
It was never Nicole's intention to have it go viral. "It was a friend of one of those friends who asked me to make the post public because she tried to share it and her friends were not able to see the attachment due to my privacy settings."
Upon returning home, Nicole retrieved Cara's phone from the neighbor's yard. It was unharmed. She kept it for four days as Cara's punishment.
Now, Nicole does not want to paint Cara as a bad kid. In fact, she describes her teenage daughter as an honor roll student and extremely talented piano player.
"I am very proud of her and I love being her mom. She was just having a bad morning," she writes on Facebook. "Still, I feel it is important for all of my children to realize that no matter what kind of mood a person is in, they are still responsible for their own actions and they are expected to be aware of how those actions affect other people."
Nicole's tardy note has been shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook.
Parents across the globe say they, too, can relate to the "condition" of which her teenager daughter suffers.
What do you think of Nicole's punishment for Cara? Let us know your thoughts, and please SHARE this viral tardy note with your friends on Facebook!
