When your kids don’t want to help out around the house, it’s incredibly frustrating. Moms carry way too much of the household responsibilities on their backs. And it’s definitely not asking too much to give your kids age-appropriate chores to do around the house. Of course, some kids resent having to do them, and it’s up to you as the parent to decide how you’re going to handle that. But would you kick your kid out of the house for not doing chores?
Barbara Susan Williford, a mom in Utah, is facing child abuse charges after kicking her young son out of the house after a fight about chores. But it seems she has a history of extreme punishment.
On December 15, 2025, the 48-year-old mom was charged with first-degree felony aggravated child abuse, KSL reported. The charge came after her 8-year-old son was found walking in the middle of the road on the night of December 10.
“It was dark and cold outside, approximately 40 degrees in temperature and dropping, (and) the child was only wearing socks, no shoes,” according to charging documents, the outlet reported.
Police learned that the boy had an argument with Williford where she “grabbed the child by the back of the neck and forced him outside the home and told him he could not live there, and by so doing knowingly and intentionally unreasonably exposed her 8-year-old child to excessive cold and darkness,” the charges read.
According to an earlier report about the incident, a sheriff’s deputy was called to Fort Duchesne in Uintah County after the boy was found in the street. He explained that he got into a fight with his mom about getting off his electronics and going to bed.
“The juvenile stated he and his mother then continued arguing and his mother grabbed him by his hair and threw him outside, where he was told that he could not live at the residence anymore,” a booking affidavit stated.
Police officers questioned Williford, who told them the boy “had anger issues and had been on his electronics for too long. Barbara stated she asked the juvenile to get off his electronics and help with chores.”
She then claimed she sent him to a “time out” in his room for four minutes, according to KSL. But when the time was up, they began arguing again when he asked for his electronics back. That’s when she threw him out.
“I then asked Barbara about telling him that he was not allowed at the residence and she stated that she told the juvenile that if he was not going to be a team player, he was not allowed to live there,” the affidavit read, per the outlet.
The latest charges against Williford come less than a year after she was charged with third-degree felony aggravated child abuse and surreptitious administration of a deleterious substance, KSL reported. It was discovered that she was sneaking small amounts of Borax cleaner in her children’s drinking water.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
