Whee!! I love bad parent stories when I am all cranky and tired and overstressed. So this one about a mom who provided laughing gas for her 13-year-old son's "ditch parties" was right up my alley.
Mom Maria Antonia Mendez, from Lake Elsinore, California, allegedly allowed her son and his buddies to ditch school (hence, "ditch parties"— I think, but I was a rules-following nerd, what do I know) and hang out at her house, where they inhaled balloons filled with nitrous oxide provided by her. Police say she participated, of course – can’t let the kids have all the fun, and isn’t it important to be interested in their activities?
Authorities figured out what was going on when they noticed a certain group of loser burnouts students were frequently missing from school together.
Maria, who might I add is all of 28, is under investigation on multiple counts of child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Not sure if she got the "coolest Mom ever" title she was clearly angling for from her son's friends. I'm sure it must have sucked to miss her teenage years because of "parenting" and all – are you listening, Jamie Lynn? – but I don’t know that reliving them through partying with your kid is necessarily the best way to make up for it.
