Children who have grown up in unpredictable situations, tend to exhibit unpredictable behaviors, especially when they think that no one is looking. For quite some time (long enough that I do not care to think back and accurately recall just how long I was in daily misery) absolutely everyday was a struggle with my adopted stepson. If I wasn’t his shadow and literally two feet behind him, he was doing something that he definitely shouldn’t be doing.

Every morning my husband would give me a kiss and head out of the house, and I would have a smile plastered on my face, while wondering how on Earth I was going to get through the day as I waved goodbye. My adopted stepson would lie over everything, steal anything that wasn’t his and wasn’t nailed down, break things for the sake of breaking them, and of course play the victim when confronted about any of it. If we were angry over something he had done, he played the “we are mean” card, insisting that the world in itself was simply out to get him no matter how good he tried to be. Even when he ripped a hole on the underside of his box spring for his bed, just laid on his back and ripped about two feet of it, we were the mean ones and he was being picked on. When he was supposed to be doing his homework at the dining room table and he ripped a hole, no wait make that two holes since he got up and changed seats I almost forgot about that, in my heirloom tablecloth, we were the mean ones who just didn’t get him and how cruel life was to him.

He was right, I didn’t get how having a good day at school with a special event during the day which limited class time, minimal and easy homework, and a snack beforehand warranted sitting there for hours on end over his refusal to finish his worksheet, and rip two holes in the hand stitched cloth. Day in and day out it was something, and I was becoming drained beyond belief. At one point, tired of trying to tell my husband about what had gone horribly wrong with that particular day without sounding like “gee I hate your kid” I half jokingly said “maybe we should put security cameras in the house so he knows that we can see him even when we aren’t there."

I got the ‘are you really that crazy’ look from my dear husband, and I quickly laughed the ‘ha ha I totally had you going’ laugh, while feeling completely defeated inside. The best defense that I had been able to come up with had been shot down as a crazy woman response. After we moved here,to our new house, we had what I presume to be young vandals who thought it would be a great idea to sneak into our backyard in the wee hours of the night and put a three foot gash in the middle of our trampoline. The next day we bought and installed two security cameras; one in the front yard as well as one in the back.

About a week later, while sitting in the comfort of our bedroom and watching the boys play in the backyard my husband turns to me with an excited look on his face and exclaims “This is great! We should install cameras in the house so we can watch them when they are upstairs too!” My eyebrows go up as I slowly let out a “you’re kidding me, right?” response, while my mind is quickly flashing back to the crazy look I had received when the suggestion had come out of my mouth.

Instantly a blank, yet puzzled look came over his face. It was quite obvious that only one of us remembered that security cameras inside the house were indeed not a new idea. His look quickly went from blank and puzzled, to sad and defeated and he mumbled out “you don’t think it’s a good idea?” Being the incredible person and wife that I am (pause for applause) I simply smiled and told him what a wonderful idea I thought it was, and how glad I was that he had thought of it. Of course now that it is his idea, we are pricing out wireless cameras for the rest of the house!

While we have yet to install any inside, I can safely say that the children play quite well together when they are in view of the cameras outside. For my husband seeing is definitely believing. He couldn’t see a use for cameras inside, until he saw how useful the cameras outside were.

If you and your spouse are on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to surveillance of your own children, perhaps take a page from our book and start with the yards first. It allows you to keep an eye on your children while they are playing outside, helping to ensure they do not wander off, and no one else wanders up. It also helps to deter crime, and can actually add value to your home. Plus after seeing how easy, effective and useful they are on the outside, I know of few parents who will not ponder the idea of sticking them in a few rooms inside the house as well!

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