The $50,000 hissy fit!

Maggie Flecknoe KIAH

Two adult siblings sued their own mother. And for what? They claim she engaged in "bad mothering". So, what did this "bad mother" do?

Steven II, 23, and his sister Kathryn, 20, both say their mother Kimberly Garrity, was a horrible mother because she: failed to buy toys for one of them, sent a birthday card the other didn't like, she didn't take her daughter to a car show, she was guilty of "haggling" over how much to spend on a party dress, she called her daughter at midnight to see when she was coming home after a homecoming party, and worst of all, she insisted that her son, 7 at the time, wear a seat belt.


And all of that emotional damage caused in their childhood could be erased for a whopping $50,000.

It should also be noted that the siblings hired their lawyer daddy, Steven A. Miner, to represent them in court.

But after two years of battle an appeals court has dismissed the 'emotional distress' case, ruling Garrity's conduct was not 'extreme or outrageous'. They added that if the court ruled in favor of the children it "could potentially open the floodgates to subject family child rearing to excessive judicial scrutiny and interference."

According to the Chicago Tribune, Miner and Garrity were married for 10 years before she filed for divorce in 1995. They raised their children in a $1.5 million home in the Chicago suburbs.

According to the Chicago Tribune, in court papers, Garrity's attorney Shelley Smith said the "litany of childish complaints and ingratitude" in the lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt by Garrity's ex-husband to "seek the ultimate revenge" of having her children accuse her of "being an inadequate mother."

"It would be laughable that these children of privilege would sue their mother for emotional distress, if the consequences were not so deadly serious" for Garrity, Smith wrote. "There is no insurance for this claim, so (Garrity) must pay her legal fees, while (the children) have their father for free."

Miner on the other hand wrote that this case is no different than a patient suing a physician for "bad doctoring".

The children "do not view their (lawsuit) as an attack on mothering, but rather on accountability," he wrote. "Everyone makes mistakes, but … there must be accountability for actions. Parenting is no different."

Garrity called the lawsuit nothing but harassment.

"Everything ... shows that these children, orchestrated by their father, will stop at nothing to embarrass and financially harm their mother," Smith wrote in a court filing. "In the process they have embarrassed themselves and left a public record blogged about on the Internet that will shadow their every future relationship."

Garrity, being the good mother that she is, does say that she still loves her children.

What do you think about these kids suing their own mother?

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