... my 9 year old son decided for some reason (that he still can't articulate) that it would be a good idea to turn the fridge/freezer where it was kept, off, and 'forget' to turn it back on until Daddy smelled something coming from the basement. I was virtually speechless. That was a very very good thing.....

OUCH! My sons did a lot of bone headed moves (almost burned up my boat one 4th of July), but nothing quite as dumb as that.

Hope he can sit down soon.

Hmm. Can't help ya with that one. I guess I give him credit for knowing how to dial a freezer, I doubt my 13 year old would have a clue or even care for that matter. Bummer though.

He can still join the Foreign Legion!!

I don't think that incident requires corporal punishment. But, that's me. At his age, there's more effective ways to get his attention than doing it physically.

We came back from hunting hogs and I put mine in my friend's freezer. His wife unplugged it. We lost about a hundred pounds of meat. I thought of getting one of those alarms you can plug into and tape it to the refrig plug so if the power to the refrig goes off, there will be a noise.

Makes for a LONG off season for both you and your son.

Shew wee!!!!!!!!!!

I bet if he is required to help clean it out it won't happen again.........

reckon you could always bar-b-que that boy.

My youngest son is now 21. I could use a bit of youth in my life. If you need to find a new home for yours I will gladly take him in.

I'm sure you'll take some deep breaths, think back to how worried you were when your wife delivered him and wait until you've calmed down to address it. It would be an easy thing to do. As appliances go, freezers ain't that expensive.

heheh Empty nester. Glad mine is only turning seven soon. I take the advice to enjoy them while you can seriously.

Video him gagging while cleaning it out & show it to him every now & again. Teachable moment.

plus one on a freezer alarm... they don't cost that much and next time might be a breaker tripping or just freezer goes dead by age etc....

That truly sucks, I agree with him helping clean it out.

That said, if you have a home security system it is a small expense to have a temp sensor installed in the freezer and have it connected to your system so that you'll get a call if it gets above a certain temperature...cheap insurance with hamburger at $5/lb. The newer/better ones have a delay built in so you can sift through the meat with the door open and not get a false signal.

Ouchy.

Oh Judas Priest, that's funny!

This all reminds me to call Dr. Balice in Bozeman and thank him yet again for my vasectomy...

I like the him cleaning it out solution, it would live long in his memory!

Is that pronounced bal-is, or ball-ice?

No matter...I owe the guy for a good job...

You know this is headed for Doctor Balless. >grin<

My ENT doctor who ran a ice auger up my nose and stuffed a box of tampax up my sinus', before he pulled them out a few days later, was named Dr. Huerter...go figure

+1 on the cleaning the meat out of the freezer. Yer a helluva man, if you didn't put a boot in his AZZ and make him clean out the freezer.


maddog

depending on how long it sat there.....you might want to haul it outside before you clean it. that smell will get into fabrics and rugs and be hell to get out.

the smell of a refrigirator that's been turned off and closed up for a month is literally a breath-taking experience. stuff you wouldn't think could rot....like corn meal...will hatch out in flies. think about that.

many people just put duct tape around their refrigirators and set them out on the street, with graffiti about FEMA sprayed on them. you couldn't get the smell out of the seals, or the stain off the interior.

worst one I saw...smelled, really...was my hunting buddy/neighbor who had a big chest freezer we use mostly for game. probably had a dozen ducks, Lord knows how many bags of trout filets, and lots of bait shrimp, saved for the winter. when he opened that thing...three weeks after Katrina, it was a soup of mung with a smell that would knock a buzzard off a [bleep], with blue flies buzzing all over it trying to get in for the goodies.

let your boy work on the cleanup...he won't do that again.

That was mean - I had "Johnny Cake" for breakfast.

Make him eat salad until next hunting season.

This.

My solution to the rotted contents -- and the freezer -- is to plug it back in. Freeze the contents solid, then haul the whole shootin' match away.

No way I toture a kid in a fruitless exercise, the freezer is junk. (tan his behind, bruise his ego, and have him pullin' weeds, pickin' rocks etc. to pay for a new freezer would be my route).

Of course, I can't say much.

As a "precaution" prior to my wife and I being gone for nearly 2 weeks at the same time at one point last year, I went around and shut off all the power strips to kill appliances, computers, etc.

Didn't even think about the fact that the freezer was connected to one.

Lost about 3 deer worth of venison on that boneheaded move.

They weren't stinking by the time I realized it, but everything was well defrosted and warm to the touch.

Fortunately, the elk from CO and a few deer from NC and VA remedied that situation.

You only do that, once. He'll learn.

My son is 28. When he was growing up, I began to realize why my hair was getting more gray in it. But I soon learned to take a deep breath, look up at the sky, and recall all the stuff I put my late father through when I was that age. Then I realized that perhaps my old man was just getting even with me from the great beyond. I can hear him now; "YOU JUST WAIT!!! SOMEDAY WHEN YOU HAVE KIDS YOU'LL SEE!!!!".

i know i learned a VERY valuable lesson about taking out the trash can to the curb when i was younger with a punishment like that. i still get squeamish when i see maggots as a result. i can still smell the maggot soup in the bottom of the can. it was horrible.

Quite a few years ago I had a friend who had a lot of bear meat in his freezer which was in the garage.While playing, his kids accidently unplugged it.That was probably the worse thing I have ever smelled in my life.
After several attempts of neutralizing the smell the feezer ended up at the dump.

One of the many memories of "fatherhood" that will grow more fond over time.....ESPECIALLY after you get another deer!!

A couple ones I remember are finding the bathroom sink JAM-PACKED with peas that he didn't want to eat (not a bad idea ).

Seeing a burn mark on the bathroom outlet and thinking it was from my wife's curling iron - until I found the TWEEZERS he poked in the outlet!!

I fill 2 smaller chest freezers a year with wild game and salmon/halibut, and eat out of them 6 days a week. 2 smaller chest freezers will feed a family of 4 for a season at the rate of 6 days of week, if packed properly. A properly packed freezer will also be more forgiving in the event of a prolonged power outage. I'm more protective of my freezers than my atm pin number. Never, ever, put a freezer in a place you can't get a visual on it on a daily basis, if you aren't pulling stuff out of it at least 3x a week.

FREEZER ALARM !!!!! buy almost anywhere nowadays


http://www.sears.com/search=freezer%20alarm


its simple - its cheap and saves a lot of heartache not to mention valuable venison- elk steaks etc. -- whatever

Wise advice! I'm sure this will be a learning experience for your son. Only you can know how it will be taught. I have three sons and it would probably have gone differently with each one of them. I also had a chest type freezer go south while I was on vacation. Refreezing it was not an option.

Do you know anyone that scuba dives? Borrowing their equipment might be worth the price of a refilled tank and case of beer. If the spoiled food hasn't been in there too long, the freezer can be cleaned so that it doesn't smell. No point in throwing it away until you try. You can always throw it away later.

Some interesting comments/perspectives.
I admit, I did have to take a few breaths and not just 'react'. A child (for those that don't have them) have the ability to 'put things into perspective' like nothing else in life. I'm a much better man since he was born. A little more info. I'm the type of person that thinks the punishment should fit the crime. He obviously didn't mean to trash all the food. What he did was turn off the fridge/freezer when he shouldn't have messed with it at all. For doing that, he got fussed at and had to assist with the clean up on just the part he could reach (bottom of the fridge). Daddy (and Mommy) was traumatized enough for all three of us already. No need to make it unanimous. I'm pretty sure the appliance thankfully is not ruined. It's in the basement garage which stays cool and obviously it's winter. After some hot water, two rolls of paper towels and plenty of 409, it's fine. If the experience 'lingers', it's way over due to be replaced. The smell was far from a spring morning but it was tolerable. I guess it depends on your perspective.
He understands the loss that was caused by his actions. For a kid that doesn't like getting his hands dirty, sopping up that gallon of blood and wiping it down will stick. The meat got rinsed and repackaged and stuck back in the freezer to await this week's garbage pick up.

I always 'try' and look for the silver lining, and the one that hit me pretty quick was... Thank God he didn't remember about the fridge and turn it back on before I had noticed it. That next meal might have had some REAL interesting aftermath!

Somebody mentioned they were surprised he could even find the switch. That kid has found controls and features on all the electronics in the house and even the vehicles that we didn't even know existed since he was 4 or 5!

Oh yeah, the person who suggested only salad until next year... THAT would be by FAR his biggest nightmare. I'm pretty sure he'd starve to death. Like father like son on that one for sure...

And for those who made comments about the joy of not having the 'trouble' of kids, I'd clean that fridge out every single day in the heat of July and double on weekends if it meant I could stop time with him. It's just all part of the journey guys, and I wouldn't miss a step. He's our miracle son and we are enternally greatful beyond compare. Thank you again Lord.... yes, even for this.

Well said, well done!

Reading a statement like this makes having to read all the other "stuff" on the Campfire to find it, worth while!

Somebody here probably thinks Dad ought to make a You Tube video, waxing eloquent about all his son's shortcomings and then pull a .45 and blow the tar out of his bicycle...

As a dad - you did good. They're going to mess up every now and again. Wait until he totals the family Jeep...

This. Let me add, that I would gladly donate 25 lbs to you and family.

On the wrong side of the pond for this...

Actually, I just remembered, I've brought this place some old venison before. http://chattnaturecenter.org/birds-of-prey.html Maybe they'll take this stuff. I know the vultures will eat it.

Thanks mathsr. I've never had any desire to live forever... until he was born.

ROFLMBO!!!

As to the OP ... chalk it up to the sometimes boneheaded mistakes of youth. I'm sure you've already made him figure out he messed up, although one can't help but want to know just what was he thinking?

Wow Guy! I presume he was OK. THAT would definitely take some years off my life...

I bet he hated venison all along.

Reminds me of when I was 5-6, playing "filling station" with my buddy, Tommy. We filled my dad's car up, then we filled Tommy's dad's car up...out of the garden hoses.

Good call.

Awful nice thought CMG. We'll survive (thankfully). Might have a few more beans this year though.

When my daughter was tiny she stuck a honeybun in the VCR.

Coyote bait, G-LSU...

when I was 13 or 14 I put a Ford pickup in reverse while driving down the road just to see what would happen... I learned to replace an automatic transmission at a very young age, that's what happened!

I've thought about that too. If the rehab center refuses any of it, some of it may wind up used that way, or at least in front of a game camera.

You and your buddy win.

I do feel bad for you and had a similar thing happen.

I had my domestic well go dry and needed a new one drilled. The power for the pump came from the old garage, detached from the house, and I turned it off for six days in July of 2008, while we were routing new water lines and underground power for the new well.

I forgot it was the same circuit to the freezer that had two deer, an antelope, and my first and only NV elk in it, along with chuckar, quail and a few trout. The only thing saved was the freezer. I washed it several times with backing soda, then I filled it with cedar chips for a month.

I have to ask....The honeybun wasn't still in the wrapper was it?

No, it wasnt in the wrapper.

reminds me of the time my little brother decided the cloths dryer would be a good place to put his bunny rabbit.

Before you fellas haul a freezer like that to the dump you might want to see if your taxidermist wants it. As long as it still works, the smell doesn't matter much.

I worked with a guy (adult age, child IQ) that would turn off the walk in freezer when he worked in there. Trouble was he didn't always remember to turn it back on.