How would you handle this situation?

[hjffkj]

So, tonight around midnight dh and I were settling into bed for the night.  We had been in our bedroom watching a show for a while and dh decided to take the dogs out before settling in.  When he got downstairs, our television was on with a Minecraft Youtube video playing but no one was in the room.  He turns the tv off and notices the bathroom light is on and the door is closed.  He doesn't think much of it at first because our kids are constantly forgetting to turn the light off.  So, he takes the dogs out and when he comes back in he heads to turn the bathroom light off but finds the door open and light off.  Then he comes up to tell me.  I check on the kids and they all seem to be sleeping but obviously one of them was faking.

 

How would you address this situation in the morning? My kids are pretty obedient kids but sometimes they mess up and if they know they can get away with it they will lie.  I don't want to set them up to lie but I can't just let this go unmentioned. 

[El...]

Heh. Somebody is suffering from a lack of self restraint! I can't see signatures on my phone, but it really matters how old the kids are.

I think you'll know by who's super tired tomorrow. 

My dad would probably put the whole family on a break from minecraft, without mentioning the incident at all, and exhaust everyone with outdoor chores. He's fierce and strategic like that, though.  

My reaction would really depend on which of my kids it was, what they needed to learn, and how that kid best learns big character concepts. 

 

[Tap]

For my family: I had very, very few rules. So, first offences of any behavior had basically no consequence, because there really wasn't a rule they broke. LOL I had an unwritten policy that the first mess-up in a specific area was a mistake and came with a warning. That way they couldn't claim to not know it was a problem behavior.  The second mess-up was on purpose and carried consequences. 

Keeping that in mind. In the morning, I would have a conversation with all of them at the same time. I would tell them the facts of the situation and tell them that they can all consider this their 1st mess-up and warning in this area. The next time will result in a consequence. Even if they weren't the one who did it, because they have now all been properly warned. 

I would offer the chance to have honor and come clean. Accepting responsibility for one's actions is a very important trait to teach. I wouldn't punish if someone came forward, to encourage honesty and the strength of character to own one's mistakes.  Especially, since no person or thing was injured.

[Rosie_0801]

I'd say "Busted!" and provide instruction on what I consider an acceptable way to cope with insomnia, which isn't sneaking or watching Minecraft vids.

[Ausmumof3]

I think there’s some big minecraft video thing going on because it was trending on Twitter last night.  So I’d assume whoever it was was the one that was into that if that helps.

[Ausmumof3]

I did a quick search and it was “minecraft manhunt” that was trending.  I’m clueless about minecraft but I think it was some kind of live stream game played through minecraft?  So maybe if one of your kids is into that it might help.

if my kids specifically wanted to watch something like that and it’s a one off I’d probably let them but I’d make them do math first so they could sleep in the next day.  I wouldn’t be happy about the sneakiness though.

[Ausmumof3]

in case this is helpful ...

[Twolittleboys]

Honestly, I would just let it go. As far as disobedience goes, it is rather minor - noone got hurt, nothing was damaged, noone was in danger. I am sure whoever it was got a pretty big scare and given that you said that the kids are in general well-behaved I would just let it be.

[HSMWB]

Well, it is after midnight here and I am ‘sneaking’ onto the WTM forums, sooooo . . . I can not see how old your kids are (no signatures) but, I would probably say something general and cryptic and assume the guilty party understood, or nothing and just see how it played out in the morning.

[Ausmumof3]

Lol... I’m also wondering why you assume it was just one kid... if that happened in my house I’d almost bet on them all being in on it.

[Shoeless]

I would be more bemused by it than upset. I'd probably say something like "Late night, eh?" and see how they responded. 

Which kid is the likely guilty party? How old are they? 

[hjffkj]

5 hours ago, elroisees said:

Heh. Somebody is suffering from a lack of self restraint! I can't see signatures on my phone, but it really matters how old the kids are.

I think you'll know by who's super tired tomorrow. 

My dad would probably put the whole family on a break from minecraft, without mentioning the incident at all, and exhaust everyone with outdoor chores. He's fierce and strategic like that, though.  

My reaction would really depend on which of my kids it was, what they needed to learn, and how that kid best learns big character concepts. 

 

ages of kids are 11, 10, 8, and 5.   I think dh has already asked each kid.  I wish he hadn't because that means someone has already lied.  

[Carrie12345]

11 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

ages of kids are 11, 10, 8, and 5.   I think dh has already asked each kid.  I wish he hadn't because that means someone has already lied.  

That’s always my downfall. I get “in the moment” and force denials.

I wouldn’t want to make a giant thing of it. Much like Tap said, I’d want to address them all and just put it out there that it’s something that isn’t allowed to be repeated.  I wouldn’t seek punishment on a one-off.

[hjffkj]

5 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

in case this is helpful ...

 

Haha, we actually all watched that together yesterday 🙂 

[hjffkj]

5 hours ago, Twolittleboys said:

Honestly, I would just let it go. As far as disobedience goes, it is rather minor - noone got hurt, nothing was damaged, noone was in danger. I am sure whoever it was got a pretty big scare and given that you said that the kids are in general well-behaved I would just let it be.

One reason I don't want to let it go is because today it was Minecraft, tomorrow it could be something worse. Another reason is because some of the kids already have a forming addiction to computers and tv.  Mostly, formed during the pandemic because of more time with it.  And it is something I want to be able to help guide them passed. Staying up later to sneak screens is a new manifestation of it.

[hjffkj]

4 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Lol... I’m also wondering why you assume it was just one kid... if that happened in my house I’d almost bet on them all being in on it.

Haha,  honestly I considered it being all of them but I don't think they could all be quiet enough to pull it off if it were all of them. they aren't known for being quiet.

[hjffkj]

3 hours ago, MissLemon said:

I would be more bemused by it than upset. I'd probably say something like "Late night, eh?" and see how they responded. 

Which kid is the likely guilty party? How old are they? 

This is likely how I would have handled it had I woke up early.  But dh got to the kids first.  He asked each kid individually if they did it (all denied it of course.)  Then he just sat with them all and talked about the incident not being that important and for him the bigger issue now is that someone is being dishonest or someone broke into our house last night to watch Minecraft.

 

[busymama7]

I would place passwords and such on the TV so that youtube could not be accessed without my permission and knowledge.  That is incredibly dangerous to have free access.   We password protect everything.  In their later teens they have the passwords as sometimes they are babysitting and such but they have to have earned it and they know we would take that privilege away.  

I would be more concerned about that then the actual act of staying up too late watching something presumably acceptable.  I might address that or I might not but I would for sure make sure no one in the house can access the cesspool that is youtube in the middle of the night. 

[busymama7]

I just went back and read more posts.  With kids at those ages it's even more important that they don't have free access to the internet and YouTube etc.   Especially since someone has already proven to be sneaky about it.  And especially because youtube is sneaky about showing inappropriate content in what looks like safe videos.  

[mommyoffive]

Is the game password protected?  Can you turn you internet something you have parental control over?

Could you tell who was tired?

It is really disappointing that nobody fessed up to it.  That makes it so much harder.  Happens a lot here.  I would be talking to them about that .  Then a talk about internet time.  Then I would have parental control on your internet. 

[hjffkj]

3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Is the game password protected?  Can you turn you internet something you have parental control over?

Could you tell who was tired?

It is really disappointing that nobody fessed up to it.  That makes it so much harder.  Happens a lot here.  I would be talking to them about that .  Then a talk about internet time.  Then I would have parental control on your internet. 

We do not password protect the devices they use because they are both in the living room in an area that people are always in.  Up until last night no one every used the computer or tv without permission and Youtube is a big nope unless you get specific permission on the video you want to watch.  I really don't want to have to password protect things because I actually do trust that my kids aren't watching things they are not allowed to watch.  Even the kid that I think did this is very much opposed to inappropriate content.

The video they were watching was actually something they were all watching before getting ready for bed and one kid minimized it in order to finish watching it in the morning.  I don't actually think it was the kid who specifically asked to continue watching it in the morning.  He is too scared to come downstairs in the dark alone and he is known to own up to his mistakes and seek forgiveness even when he doesn't get caught.

 

We've talked to the kids about honesty and the act of hiding the truth is worse at this point than the actual action.  They know we are now considering password protecting everything.  I'm most disappointed that they haven't fessed up because my ten year old is now convinced someone came into our house last night to watch tv. 

[BusyMom5]

I would have a no video game week- probably for all kids.  I'd tell them that I though we needed a no video game week.

[hjffkj]

4 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

I would have a no video game week- probably for all kids.  I'd tell them that I though we needed a no video game week.

well they weren't playing video games.  They were watching youtube.

For now, they're having no screen time this morning but I don't think I'll extend it passed the morning.

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

This is likely how I would have handled it had I woke up early.  But dh got to the kids first.  He asked each kid individually if they did it (all denied it of course.)  Then he just sat with them all and talked about the incident not being that important and for him the bigger issue now is that someone is being dishonest or someone broke into our house last night to watch Minecraft.

 

Sounds like he handled it very well.  Children lying is going to happen and I don't believe it's a reflection of the goodness of the child or the effectiveness of the parent. I also wouldn't make the leap of Minecraft to porn - if that's what you were doing in your mind. The leap could simply be Minecraft to more Minecraft or Fail Videos on youtube.  I think adults sometimes have a much more vulgar mind than kids do, but it is certainly worth monitoring. 

BTW, you will eventually catch the one who did it. My dh told our dc that he can tell exactly who is looking at what on the computer, etc. so don't bother trying to lie. Some of this is true, but some is not. The dc don't have to necessarily know that. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by wintermom

[hjffkj]

4 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Sounds like he handled it very well.  Children lying is going to happen and I don't believe it's a reflection of the goodness of the child or the effectiveness of the parent. I also wouldn't make the leap of Minecraft to porn - if that's what you were doing in your mind. The leap could simply be Minecraft to more Minecraft or Fail Videos on youtube.  I think adults sometimes have a much more vulgar mind than kids do, but it is certainly worth monitoring. 

BTW, you will eventually catch the one who did it. My dh told our dc that he can tell exactly who is looking at what on the computer, etc. so don't bother trying to lie. Some of this is true, but some is not. The dc don't have to necessarily know that. 

No,  my mind didn't go from Minecraft to porn, it just went to the issue of too much screen time.

 

I just gave them the option to right on a piece of paper if they did it or not with zero consequences and it being anonymous and they all wrote they didn't do it.  Now they all really think someone was in our house.  I keep trying to just drop the subject but they are all obsessing about it.

[Shoeless]

Any chance they are telling the truth? Do you have a pet that could have jumped on the remote and turned the TV back on? We have cats that have turned on Bob Ross Joy of Painting by stepping on the remote (they are big fans, apparently!)

[wintermom]

11 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

No,  my mind didn't go from Minecraft to porn, it just went to the issue of too much screen time.

 

I just gave them the option to right on a piece of paper if they did it or not with zero consequences and it being anonymous and they all wrote they didn't do it.  Now they all really think someone was in our house.  I keep trying to just drop the subject but they are all obsessing about it.

If this is your main concern, then deal directly with this issue. Collect up the remotes and store them in your bedroom at night, or something like that.

It sounds like the lying is the main issue with you and your dh.  For this issue, I would just give the dc time. Perhaps mention that living in a house where people become suspicious of each other is not good for anyone. We all lose. Right now, the person who is lying is safe and the winner, scared to lose face. 

[hjffkj]

11 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

Any chance they are telling the truth? Do you have a pet that could have jumped on the remote and turned the TV back on? We have cats that have turned on Bob Ross Joy of Painting by stepping on the remote (they are big fans, apparently!)

Both dogs were in our room with us.  Our oldest did some investigating and determined the video started 12:04 am and two videos played.  The second was a 2 hour video and the one dh came down to playing at 12:40 am.  The first video that played was the one the my 8 year old had set up to watch in the morning.  And the fact that someone was in the downstairs bathroom says at least someone was awake and downstairs.  Dh is kicking himself for not just checking the bathroom before going outside with the dogs because the kids will not drop it.  We adults don't care anymore but one kids is convinced someone came into our house via an unlocked door and another is mad at everyone because someone is lying.  

[hjffkj]

4 minutes ago, wintermom said:

If this is your main concern, then deal directly with this issue. Collect up the remotes and store them in your bedroom at night, or something like that.

It sounds like the lying is the main issue with you and your dh.  For this issue, I would just give the dc time. Perhaps mention that living in a house where people become suspicious of each other is not good for anyone. We all lose. Right now, the person who is lying is safe and the winner, scared to lose face. 

Oh well my main initial concern was the screen time. Meaning my concern last night when it was discovered.  Now it is the lying, but really I'm not actually concerned about that.  I wish we had avoided setting a kid up to lie.

[Tanaqui]

Sounds to me like you have three separate problems here (assuming that it wasn't, like, a cat or a very weird intruder):

1. You have, or believe you have, nascent screen addiction.

2. You have at least one child who is awake at midnight - either they can't sleep or they stayed up.

3. You're worried about honesty.

When it comes to point 3, my answer is simple though unpopular - I tend to think that *most* parents who are worried about their kids being dishonest really make the problem bigger than it should be by setting their kids up to lie and by treating it as a HUGE PROBLEM instead of a minor one. It's too late to redo it now, but I would not have confronted each child individually, or even asked them to fess up as a group - I would've simply informed the entire household at breakfast that the TV had mysteriously been on at midnight, reminded the kids that this is well past bedtime and the internet curfew, and said that I'd be doing more frequent nighttime checks for a while to make sure nobody was sneaking around. Children lie to avoid trouble or to please their parents, when they feel cornered - pretty much like adults do, actually. If you don't waste your time and theirs asking them you can avoid giving yourself a second discipline problem to worry about. (And worry is the right word - all parents think they're super good at telling when their kids are lying, but in controlled experiments it turns out that parents are barely better than strangers, or even a coin flip.)

Can't necessarily help you on point 2, but it's worth talking to your kids about healthy sleep hygiene routines.

As for point 1 - I know you say you're reluctant to password protect because you trust your kids not to go on sites they're not supposed to, but it still might be worth it to set up a password so they can't take more internet time than you like, or so they can't go on the internet at disallowed times. It's better to say openly "I'd rather not have to worry that you're accidentally getting too much screen time, or sneaking screen time when you know you shouldn't" than to worry about it, wait for them to misbehave, and then put in the restrictions. (And if you're doing that, I'd also collect devices etc. at bedtime.)

[Tanaqui]

Ah, and I missed your most recent two comments while commenting!

With regards to your newer problem, and keeping in mind that I don't know your kids, do you think it'd make sense to just tell those two kids to stop talking about it? "I don't think it was an intruder and I'm not worried about it. An intruder wouldn't watch TV in our house, but just in case I'll be extra careful about door and window locks for a while. I'm sorry I worried you, because I'm the parent and it's my job to take care of things like this" for one and "Listen, it's not your business to care whether or not your siblings lie to me. Let me be the parent. Your job is to be a good sibling - which means you need to stop going on and on about whether or not the other kids lied" for the other.

[hjffkj]

So, to add to the situation it could actually be an intruder.  The possibility isn't unheard of because there is a kid in this neighborhood who has broken into their neighbors home while they were gone for an extended period of time and spent hours a day/night just hanging out watching tv and going through their stuff.  I have no idea if this kid would be so bold as to come into someones house while they are home sleeping.  We do know at least one door was unlocked.

 

I have asked them to stop talking about it, which they are.  They have decided to take these security devices that the previous owner left and install them on the doors so they will sound off if the door is opened.  Either they really didn't do it and are convinced of intruders or one of them is really digging their heels in.  Either way, I've dropped the whole thing.

[wintermom]

18 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Oh well my main initial concern was the screen time. Meaning my concern last night when it was discovered.  Now it is the lying, but really I'm not actually concerned about that.  I wish we had avoided setting a kid up to lie.

Don't blame yourself. A person chooses to lie for all kinds of reasons. It's not you who specifically set up the situation. 

[hjffkj]

16 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Don't blame yourself. A person chooses to lie for all kinds of reasons. It's not you who specifically set up the situation. 

well as a parent, I know that the way I approach things will help guide my kids to make better decisions when faced with dealing with their mistakes.  I have avoided putting them into the position that they feel trapped and lie for reactionary reasons.  This time dh and I failed to approach the issue in a manner that didn't make the kid feel pressured to lie. We hope to do better next time

[wintermom]

2 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

well as a parent, I know that the way I approach things will help guide my kids to make better decisions when faced with dealing with their mistakes.  I have avoided putting them into the position that they feel trapped and lie for reactionary reasons.  This time dh and I failed to approach the issue in a manner that didn't make the kid feel pressured to lie. We hope to do better next time

If you know the way, then why did you start this thread. Just curious. It seemed to me that you didn't know the way and were looking for feedback. I'm leaving now, as I'm probably just getting annoying. 😉

[73349]

I try not to ask questions that lying is a possible response to. I would've said to the whole gang, "Somebody did something you weren't supposed to last night, and I would like you to come talk to one of us or write us a note about it."

And the TV remote would now live in my dresser drawer, just to help remove temptation.

[hjffkj]

Just now, wintermom said:

If you know the way, then why did you start this thread. Just curious. It seemed to me that you didn't know the way and were looking for feedback. I'm leaving now, as I'm probably just getting annoying. 😉

no your not annoying.  Well I mean in general I know the way to approach things to avoid them feeling cornered into lying.  This was a completely new issue so I was wondering how other people would handle it so I could compare that to other ways I've handled things to adjust to the current new situation.  The feedback has all been very helpful.

 

Thank you everyone.  Just new territory for us.  None of my kids have ever been unable to sleep and none have ever watched tv after bedtime without permission so I was venturing in new territory

[hjffkj]

Just now, Carolina Wren said:

I try not to ask questions that lying is a possible response to. I would've said to the whole gang, "Somebody did something you weren't supposed to last night, and I would like you to come talk to one of us or write us a note about it."

And the TV remote would now live in my dresser drawer, just to help remove temptation.

This is how I wish it was addressed this morning.

Still deciding if we remove remotes and keyboards.  we're still mulling over if that is necessary for a first offense.   Thank you for your feedback.

[ktgrok]

10 hours ago, HSMWB said:

Well, it is after midnight here and I am ‘sneaking’ onto the WTM forums, sooooo . . . I can not see how old your kids are (no signatures) but, I would probably say something general and cryptic and assume the guilty party understood, or nothing and just see how it played out in the morning.

This is incredibly effective on some kids! It worked on me, lol. I once skipped my last period class with a friend, to go to the beach. My dad that night said, very calmly, "You know, I saw a car today at the gas station that looked just like Friend's car, and it sort of looked like you in it...but I know that isn't possible because it was during school hours. I'm sure I'll never see that again."

And I never skipped again, lol. 

Of course, my dad was all over town for his job, fixing ATM machines, so you never knew when you'd run into him or one of his coworkers who could rat you out, lol. Also, knowing he might come home for a drink or snack at any hour meant no sneaking boys into the house, or booze, etc. 

[ktgrok]

I'd bet something bumped the remote. I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, since they've never done this before. 

I'd say, well,  now that we know we can check the history, I'm sure even if one of you was tempted, you know you'd get caught. So no worries. 

[rebcoola]

We don't password protect things but we do have it setup so the router turns off at a certain time.   Our kids are good kids but the one with ADHD often has trouble sleeping and it's pretty tempting to get up and watch tv.  Which obviously won't help her sleep. It's not a punishment just makes it easier for her to make good choices.

[bensonduck]

Wow. If it wasn’t for the light in the bathroom, I would think that YouTube randomly started playing during the night. I’ve had that happen on my computer before for sure. 

My kid are almost exactly the same ages as yours: 11, 8 and 6. And the fact that your kids are going out of their way to “solve the mystery” and not just let it drop and go away is a huge signal to me that they are telling the truth. My kids aren’t so creative that they’d spend a lot of time sleuthing, you know? They’d want the incident forgotten. Especially if they know you guys are reasonable parents and would normally come clean about this stuff!

TL;DR: I think it’s the neighbor kid. 

[hjffkj]

5 minutes ago, bensonduck said:

Wow. If it wasn’t for the light in the bathroom, I would think that YouTube randomly started playing during the night. I’ve had that happen on my computer before for sure. 

My kid are almost exactly the same ages as yours: 11, 8 and 6. And the fact that your kids are going out of their way to “solve the mystery” and not just let it drop and go away is a huge signal to me that they are telling the truth. My kids aren’t so creative that they’d spend a lot of time sleuthing, you know? They’d want the incident forgotten. Especially if they know you guys are reasonable parents and would normally come clean about this stuff!

TL;DR: I think it’s the neighbor kid. 

yeah, as the day has progressed I have decided it likely wasn't them.  I don't want to think it was the neighbor kid because that is just creepy.  But this girl literally spent an unknown amount of days with her 5 dogs in another neighbor's house.  She let the dogs poop and pee all over the house, she pulled out all of the clothes in one of the kids rooms and spent went through all their stuff, but didn't take anything.  She was only caught because she left the back door open one night and a neighbor happened to be in his backyard when he saw the door and went to investigate knowing those people were gone for the summer.

[TravelingChris]

4 hours ago, hjffkj said:

So, to add to the situation it could actually be an intruder.  The possibility isn't unheard of because there is a kid in this neighborhood who has broken into their neighbors home while they were gone for an extended period of time and spent hours a day/night just hanging out watching tv and going through their stuff.  I have no idea if this kid would be so bold as to come into someones house while they are home sleeping.  We do know at least one door was unlocked.

 

I have asked them to stop talking about it, which they are.  They have decided to take these security devices that the previous owner left and install them on the doors so they will sound off if the door is opened.  Either they really didn't do it and are convinced of intruders or one of them is really digging their heels in.  Either way, I've dropped the whole thing.

We had a real fright last Thursday night.  Dh and I are living alone right now (although we may have a child move back in Feb).  THis happened past 10pm and dh and I were upstairs in our great room which is where on the other side of it is our front door and also windows.  Someone tried to open our door.  We thought it was one of our adult children, though they do not come over so late and usually call or text us.  But we have a dd who is married to a man who has serious illnesses and who knows?  DH looked out our door w/out opening and then went and got his gun and went outside but that took more than a minute.  He didn't even get up right away since we had to confirm to ourselves what we just heard.  Our door is wooden and the doorknob being tried to be open is a very distinctive sound.  We do have security cameras but our front door one goes on and off (we need a new line from the street for our internet) and ADT couldn't put in a camera on part of our front because of our house construction.  We checked our videos and saw nothing but because we had our outdoor lights off by this time, and considering how this person could have gotten onto our porch, it is very likely we did have an intruder try.  Now dd2 said she had the same thing happen when we were out of town and she was housesitting.  We need one more weapon for our downstairs now.  And weapons are hard to come by right now too because of the increases of crime.  

I was talking with DD2 about it and she said, how dumb could this criminal be-  if he cased the house at all (he didn't), he would have figured out dh is retired military.  Both my car and his truck were parked in our driveway and we had a tv on and were in that room he tried to get into.  But as a person with a MS in Crim Justice and an ABD in it too, I am well aware that most criminals are dumb.

[hjffkj]

9 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

We had a real fright last Thursday night.  Dh and I are living alone right now (although we may have a child move back in Feb). 

That is scary.  

[Ausmumof3]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

yeah, as the day has progressed I have decided it likely wasn't them.  I don't want to think it was the neighbor kid because that is just creepy.  But this girl literally spent an unknown amount of days with her 5 dogs in another neighbor's house.  She let the dogs poop and pee all over the house, she pulled out all of the clothes in one of the kids rooms and spent went through all their stuff, but didn't take anything.  She was only caught because she left the back door open one night and a neighbor happened to be in his backyard when he saw the door and went to investigate knowing those people were gone for the summer.

That is really weird!  

[Tanaqui]

3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

yeah, as the day has progressed I have decided it likely wasn't them.  I don't want to think it was the neighbor kid because that is just creepy.  But this girl literally spent an unknown amount of days with her 5 dogs in another neighbor's house.  She let the dogs poop and pee all over the house, she pulled out all of the clothes in one of the kids rooms and spent went through all their stuff, but didn't take anything.  She was only caught because she left the back door open one night and a neighbor happened to be in his backyard when he saw the door and went to investigate knowing those people were gone for the summer.

 

My goodness. I hope her parents are getting her help as needed, because that's really decidedly odd behavior. At the very least, she and all those dogs need better supervision.

[hjffkj]

18 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

I would like to suggest another theory.

Tech error.

Presuming you have wifi that you use your YouTube with....it's also possible that a neighbor's remote or phone accidently latched onto your wi-fi through a tech error and as they thought they were changing their TV...for a split second, it changed yours instead (or also.)  Universal remotes in particular can cause this problem...........................we have had it happen within our own home.  

Nope, it is not wifi.  The router is hooked up to that computer. But even if tech error is a possibility. That doesn't explain the person who was in the downstairs bathroom.  dh is pretty positive about that detail.  So, who knows.  It has been a fun mystery

[hjffkj]

38 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

That is really weird!  

very

[hjffkj]

16 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

 

My goodness. I hope her parents are getting her help as needed, because that's really decidedly odd behavior. At the very least, she and all those dogs need better supervision.

And that apparently wasn't the first time she had a run in with the law.  The girl is only 11.  I can't even begin to understand how a parent doesn't know their 11 year old and 5 dogs is gone for hours a night.  Her dogs are far from quiet