â€˜Meanest momâ€™

amother

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 11:39 am

‘Meanest mom’ sells car after finding liquor
Iowa woman shares teen son’s misdeed with the world via newspaper ad
The Associated Press
updated 7:52 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 9, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa - Jane Hambleton has dubbed herself the "meanest mom on the planet."

After finding alcohol in her son's car, she decided to sell the car and share her 19-year-old's misdeed with everyone — by placing an ad in the local newspaper.

The ad reads: "OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."

Hambleton has heard from people besides interested buyers since recently placing the ad in The Des Moines Register.

The 48-year-old from Fort Dodge says she has fielded more than 70 telephone calls from emergency room technicians, nurses, school counselors and even a Georgia man who wanted to congratulate her.

"The ad cost a fortune, but you know what? I'm telling people what happened here," Hambleton says. "I'm not just gonna put the car for resale when there's nothing wrong with it, except the driver made a dumb decision.

"It's overwhelming the number of calls I've gotten from people saying 'Thank you, it's nice to see a responsible parent.' So far there are no calls from anyone saying, 'You're really strict. You're real overboard, lady.'"

The only critic is her son, who Hambleton says is "very, very unhappy" with the ad and claims the alcohol was left by a passenger.

Hambleton said she believes her son but has decided mercy isn't the best policy in this case. She says she set two rules when she bought the car at Thanksgiving: No booze, and always keep it locked.

The car has been sold, but Hambleton says she will continue the ad for another week — just for the feedback.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22.....10755

momluv

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 11:43 am

smart lady!! way to go!

Mitzvahmom

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 11:58 am

LOL smart mom!!

Mevater

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 12:02 pm

Idiot Mom- The kid will never forgive her.

trafficgal

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 1:14 pm

yes he will and he'll learn a good lesson to boot!

greenfire

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 1:26 pm

there won't be anything to forgive if someone ends up dead due to drunken driving shock

some people just shouldln't have a car ... or ever drive ...

louche

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 1:41 pm

I want to meet this woman and shake her hand.

mammala120

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 1:45 pm

not smart at all.
the child will feel hateret and become worse.
this should of been done after first warning not as primary intervention to treat his behavior. Twisted Evil

chavamom

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 4:28 pm

Not if it was part of the condition on which they gave him the car!

amother

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 4:37 pm

Quote:

claims the alcohol was left by a passenger.

Hambleton said she believes her son

The lady is nuts, she believes her son didnt drink, yet she goes to extremes to not only sell the car but to embaress him and to keep the ad in the paper even after it was sold. All she wants is attention and she's using her son to do it-its terrible, the son is a good kid...give the guy a break, if you want to teach a lesson so take away the car-even that is going far but to advetise is ridiculous-if she was Jewish it would be major lashon hara.

chavamom

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 5:22 pm

This woman gave her son a car and it was on condition NOT that he wouldn't drink and drive, but that there wouldn't be any booze in the car - or they would sell the car if violated. I 100% agree with her. Why would anyone think the kid should be given another chance? And how does amother know the kid is a good kid? Either he's lying OR he did let people drink in his car.

amother

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 7:58 pm

Chavamom, I dont understand you. If this were your child-would u go out of your way to embaress your child-to teach a lesson? or would you just sell the car? The reason Im saying he was a good kid, is because I was listening to a talkshow on the radio...

mummiedearest

Thu, Jan 10 2008, 8:08 pm

she's not doing it to embarrass him. it's more of a public service announcement. parents are too scared of being parents these days.