The more I think about this, the more I think he shot an empty laptop case. The capacitors, the CMOS battery, the chemicals in an LCD screen... I'm pretty sure the laptop would have exploded if shot with the kind of bullets he said he used. He definitely would have had to take the laptop battery, the CMOS battery and the display off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No5Hz...feature=relmfu
Regardless, I have read some of the dad's posts on Facebook since the incident and he seems less crazy than the original incident, admits maybe it wasn't the best way to handle it, etc. But he did that, out of anger, within an hour of finding her post, which does show poor judgment when angry. If he was my dad, I'd be afraid of him. He doesn't parent the way I would and I wouldn't date someone who would discipline his kid this way.
My current facebook status:
A promise to my children: No matter what you do, no matter what you say about me on Facebook, discipline will NEVER involve a gun. Maybe that's why you're such great kids??
I've always allowed my kids to be mad at me. I get mad at them. We aren't allowed to express that disrespectfully. The rules are the same for all of us. I have never told my kids to "Shut up". I have never sworn at them and rarely swear in front of them. I have told them "I am too angry with you to discuss it right now" and waited until I calmed down. I have sent them to their rooms to calm down before we could discuss something. I have said "What were you thinking?", I have said "I love you to the core, but I don't like what you did and I need time to process this." I have yelled (although it has been years since I've had to), but I yelled directions, not insults. My son could be pretty aggressive when angry when he was much younger, likely because his parents were so incredibly angry with each other and he was feeling that. What really worked? Us divorcing, so he wasn't surrounded by that tension all the time. When they were angry about being punished or me saying no to something, did they tell me they hated me? Yes. Did I take it personally? No. Did I once pack up all the toys into garbage bags and let them think that I donated them to charity because they weren't picking up their toys? Yes.
My kids do a lot around the house, especially since I started school. Once in a while, one of them will complain that they don't want to and I point out that I don't really want to grocery shop or make dinner either, but it's all part of keeping our family and household running and it takes a group effort to get it done. We talk about it. They know they are allowed to be angry with me, which is why they wouldn't have to post something like that on Facebook. When I ask them to do something out of their normal chores, I generally give them a deadline rather than ask them to do it right this minute. I hated when my parents asked me to immediately stop whatever I was doing and do something they wanted me to do. What I was doing was usually important to me. I respect that. I will say "I really need you to ____ before 2 o'clock today". Sometimes they do it right away, sometimes it gets done at 1:55. It gets done though.
I still maintain I'd be afraid of a guy who would shoot a laptop. Not OK in my book. I hear a lot of parents say "Shut up" to their kids too, but that's not OK in my book either.