10 replies to this topic

[Hiromilovesmealworms]

 I am so sad. I got in trouble with my parents, and my ants just got thrown out. 

What should I do? Help.

[ANTdrew]

I’m so sorry. Life can be really rough sometimes, especially when you’re young. Just do your best to make things right and hopefully your parents will come around. It may seem like forever, but soon enough you’ll be able to keep ants again. Keep your head up. 🙏🏻

[BleepingBleepers]

Alright, gimme your address and I'll go over there and teach them a lesson

 

Joking aside... that's how it is when you live under someone else's roof, it has some benefits but it CAN be VERY restrictive, gotta move out if you're old enough or sit and talk to them, but I'm guessing parents that would just toss your pets into the trash isn't really the kind that'll happily sit down and compromise.

 

Did they say why they don't like your ants?

 

Curious as to why. The only scenario in which parents might toss out a pet is either they escaped and bit them, you're raising an ant that's notoriously venomous in your area and they're worried, you raised too many, you trashed up their living area for your hobby, you somehow were unclean about it and it smelled or a revenge / disciplinary reaction like "if you don't do your homework, I'm going to toss your ants out!"

Edited by BleepingBleepers, October 28 2023 - 6:31 PM.

[Hiromilovesmealworms]

It was because my parents left to attend a funeral in the morning, and told me I should be done with my homework when they came back 4 hrs later, so we could go to a friends place to hang out and sleep over. But, I was watching Youtube and wasted time, they found out, and they cancelled the entire sleepover, threw out my poor little tube of hibernating Camponotus Vicinus, and went to a dinner with friends while I am at home right now. They took away all devices, but I found a computer that they forgot so I can finish my homework. I know this sounds like they are horrible ppl, but it is my fault because I always secretely watch youtube (cuz I'm addicted) behind their backs, and waste time online. I think this is a good lesson so it can teach me the damage an addiction can do to your productivity and overall life. I'm really sad right now cuz I was so hyped up about my new colony and now their gone forever. I saw my parents take the tube into the yard and came back with an empty tube. I don't know if they killed them or what. I'm praying that they survived and can find a new nesting place in my yard, so I can find see their mature colony in the future.     

[bmb1bee]

You could consider this a lesson to manage your time better. I can vouch for this because I also have time management issues, which my parents have time and time again reminded me about. Recently, I was able to overcome some of these challenges and organize a sort of daily schedule for myself to split time between homework and my ants.

I know your punishment was harsh and that self-improvement definitely isn’t easy, but if you were to prove to them that you could do more to improve yourself, they might soften up and reconsider your punishment.

Hope any of this advice helps!

[ANTdrew]

Hiromi, you’re in a tough spot. Screen addiction is probably one of the hardest things to overcome because we have screens literally in our faces 24/7 now. It’s not like you can just drive down a different street to avoid your favorite bar or liquor store. I would highly recommend reaching out to your school counselor or other trusted adult for help. There must be good resources out there for you. The most important and difficult step is asking for the help. You CAN do this, and you’ll probably get another shot at ant keeping if you show some real steps toward change. It is cliche to say this, but just take things one day at a time.

Edited by ANTdrew, October 29 2023 - 2:04 AM.

[Serafine]

While i do not agree with your parents' decision of disposing your pets (would they have done the same if you had a puppy? like take it behind the shed and shoot it in the head? yes, they're ants but we're still talking about living breathing beings here),

any sort of addiction can cripple your life much more than the loss of some pet ever could.

 

If you really can't get it under control, seek help - there's no shame in admitting you need help, actually that's a sign of strength and of a will to change things. Doing nothing is the easy way.

You can still get new pets in the future, but if you let addiction dictate your life, you may reach a point where you're not even able to care for yourself, much less a pet.

Edited by Serafine, October 29 2023 - 4:07 AM.

[Virginian_ants]

That's almost happened to me before and I understand. Hopefully things get worked out and your can get back to keeping ants.

[JustabirdfromFlorida]

This happened to me once. My C.floridanus were released because of my slipping grades (I always have all A's but that quarter I had four B's and two A's) so my ants were released it was sad I coped by catching more queens.

[Locness]

Happened to me several times when I was younger. I lost a kingsnake, bearded dragon, and scorpion. Have a conversation with them if you can and take ownership and accountability for your part. Sometimes you can come to an agreement, other times you just need to have your own place. Just remember that what you're going through is temporary and focus on making improvements on your social media use.

[100lols]

You’re doing a great job of shifting the focus from the external things to what YOU can do differently. The only thing you can change is YOU.

Seek help and try to keep a positive mindset through all this. As you said, you’re learning a valuable lesson. Not only in how you should have acted, but also how you can act in the future.

Maybe think about how you can prioritize the things that allow relaxation? Procrastination is a behavior pattern that’s better to overcome as soon as possible.

Also, how would you teach/make your own child understand in this situation? Your parents are just doing their best that’s all anyone can do! Keep working on yourself because that’s a life long process! Time indeed moves fast, but still requires patience. Just like waiting for nanitics