Your beef is with the parent.  Whether you know it or not.

Think about it.

My son Thomas has had two such incidents. The first involved playing with his yoyo in such a manner as to ruin my then 26 inch computer monitor. That was OK as I replaced it with a same priced 32. But then he grabbed my tone arm and did about the same thing as your tyke visitor did. The only difference was I caught him prior to damage.

At first, I yelled. Then I calmed down and showed him how fragile it was and how cool it was. I hope I balance dad and audiophile. But yeah, kids, even your own, can make you nervous around touchy equipment. I feel your loss, but look forward to hearing about your upgrade!

Trey

You mean I shouldnt tape a silver dollar on the headshell, adding more downforce to a Koetsu Black ? 

sweeeeet.

The 2M blue is a pretty fine cartridge and children are an expensive hobby...I recommend cats, smarter and less damaging.

I agree with ( jgossman ) it's the parent that his beef should be with and pass along the cost of the damage too, You can bet she would keep an eye on her offspring after that. When a friend of my better half and young daughter were visiting a while back, the daughter was about to go over to the music maker, when her mother bellowed loudly at her to " stay away  that cost more than we will make in are lifetime ". The little girl stayed well away for ever after, thats what parents are suppost to do. 

  There is a brighter side to all this, when my daughter was younger and wanted to play with dads stereo, I would just sit back and contemplate what she might brake and what I would have to upgrade to. Just my rotten luck, she never broke anything.

                                                                                                                                                                Tim

the moral, if there be one, of the story: take advantage of "teachable moments" with kids (and adults). treat these moments as an investment in raising a self regulating child. the pay back over the years is inestimable. no doubt, the parent has the responsibility for ensuring audio safety. when in deep doubt or nervosa about audio safety, bar a young child from the audio space; harsh, but saves wear and tear on relationships and gear.

jgossman wrote:

Your beef is with the parent.  Whether you know it or not.

Think about it.

EXACTLY! At NINE years old for Christ's sake he should know better, 100 times over.

Hell, even my five year old would know better not to go messing with an adult's stuff at their house, and nor would I allow it too happen beyond one-half a second. In fact, a good parent sees this kind of thing coming a mile away and just says, "hey that's not for playing: hands off".

Kids will obviously want to explore their world, which is great, but as important as not allowing them to hurt themselves is teaching not to hurt others or their things. Too many parents I've seen sadly don't get this.

Kids, teach them about your beloved hobby but it's the parent that must instruct those little fingers from being somewhat curious.

I have a friend who used to visit with his wife and kids. His kids were so bad and irresponsible I told him that he and his wife were welcome to visit but not their kids. I haven't seem them in a while. No big loss!

IMO it all comes down to, do you kid proof your house or house proof your kids. Me,I'm firmly on the side of house proofing kids.

Time to send the Grace to Soundsmith

Why I hate kids ... because one of mine "pushed the buttons" on my Dynaudio C1s (button = esotar tweeter).

~ Humanovation

I have 3 kids, who have never ever touched my hifi. They are now 22, 19 and 16. Teach them respect. However your Dad is hooked up with a younger model now, only getting to grips with new potential step child. He should have seen the problem and intervened quickly. Have you any insurance to cover accidental damage? 

Sounds like he should be old enough to know better than to touch other peoples' stuff.

A good belting might wake him up somewhat.

.. that I see things differently because I was raised in a family of children lovers.  We don't only see children as a necessary evil to continue the species.  Some of the post on here if they aren't joking, as they aren't delineated by any emoticons, are just ridiculous.  A good belting?  Over hi-fi?  Really?  It might be very expensive stuff, but it's only stuff.  A will raised child is literally a thing of beauty.  If you are having to really discipline them at age 6 or older, you made serious mistakes as toddlers.  Some kids are just difficult, but some of the comments here make me really wonder about parenting values.

My nieces and nephews always ask if they want to listen to the stereo.  And when they are old enough of they want to learn how to use a record player for example, they will ask.  They don't mess with speakers.  They don't mishandle LP's.  They weren't fed and slept, they were RAISED.  And they are beautiful little people. 

I think you may be over reacting a bit. I don't think most of the posters here actually do hate kids at all. I love mine, and many other's too. But the ones that are self centered and destructive? Well, I don't enjoy having them around much but I entirely blame the parents (as I said previously).

Kids will be kids, and stuff that is delicate and/or expensive should be off limits to them until they are ready to handle it. Who sets (or doesn't) those limits: the parents. If you bring your child into a new situation it's up to you to coach them on behavior and what is OK to explore and what isn't.

And if my son, who was taught to respect my own equipment at an early age (but still knows the TT is off-limits) did, even by innocent accident, damage someone else's things, I'd be arranging to fix or replace it immediately. It should all be pretty obvious, but sadly it isn't.