Surely You Must be Joking! Mom Faces Possible $2,500 Fine for Letting Daughter Use Sidewalk Chalk
THIS is criminal behavior?
I wish I were joking. Because if this story is true (and, sadly, it is), then I’d better start saving my pennies — thousands and thousands of them — because I’m guilty, too.
Susan Mortensen, a Virginia mom to a 4-year-old child, has to serve 50 hours of community service or otherwise pay a $2,500 fine after she was “caught” letting her daughter draw on rocks with sidewalk chalk, according to The Huffington Post (via WTVR).
Using sidewalk chalk on a sidewalk is considered vandalism in Richmond, apparently.
Apparently it didn’t help that when Mortensen was ticketed, she “responded with an attitude and curse words,” but surely that in and of itself doesn’t merit that kind of sentence. And, apparently, Mortensen herself had been convicted of painting on rocks two years ago, although it’s unclear if and why that would have a bearing on her preschool-age daughter drawing with sidewalk chalk in the present day.
The judge in the case has told Mortensen she needs to paint 200 boundary posts on the side of a bridge, and if she fails to do so by January, she’ll be slapped with a $2,500 fine.
It’d be understandable if Mortensen’s daughter were spray-painting the rocks. Or painting them. Or even using crayons on them. But sidewalk chalk? That stuff that washes away when it rains, when a sprinkler hits it or when a dog pees on it?
That’s vandalism? A 4-year-old’s scribbles are vandalism? Last time I checked that was called a weekday afternoon activity. One that doesn’t hurt anyone. One that encourages children to spend time outdoors. One that gives children an opportunity to express their creativity. And one that certainly doesn’t merit criminal charges.
Even if you don’t like a child’s sidewalk chalk display, do you think it rises to the level of a crime?
Photo credit: iStock
She may not have deserved the sentence/fine but grandma was not wrong when she said you catch more flies with honey than vinegar/. Or, as I tell my own kids: don’t pi$$ in your own bathwater. Less ‘tude, with yes sirs and no sirs can go a long way. I wonder what would have happened if she expressed apologies and the offer to scrub the chalk off those sidewalks instead of cursing?
I may think it’s a lame law, but smart people work to change laws. Others cuss out the cops who hold the citation booklet
This is completely and utterly ridiculous. Even given her own past with the paint, and her response. All she’d have to do is toss a bucket of water over it and it would be gone. How can you possibly fine someone for that? Just tell her to wash it off, for God’s sakes. We need more common sense in this country, seriously.
Agree with Goddess. I think the issue is more about being belligerent with the police. It may be a silly law, but you don’t change it by breaking it. A restaurant in MD was recently fined for chalk advertising in sidewalks. See? The cops aren’t just out to get mommies and little children as you would have us think.
1. The child was using the chalk in a park, and 2. the Mom had been warned previously. I’m all for letting my LO use sidewalk chalk. In fact she has 3 buckets full of chalk BUT not in a Park! There are boundaries that need to be set and followed so that all can enjoy a public space.
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