Mom asks if she was wrong to punish daughter by cancelling her 16th birthday.
Being a mother is hard. Especially to teenage girls. When this mother is angry at her daughter and wants to take her party away, she takes to the popular Reddit forum to ask:
'AITA for 'cancelling' my teenage daughter's birthday?'
I know how the title sounds, but hear me out. I 40F have two daughters, one recently turned 16F and one is 11F. My 16 year old, Fiona, is very into fashion right now. She loves to watch Project Runway, Rupaul's Drag Race, basically anything to do with fashion.
For her birthday, my husband 44M and I bought a rather pricey sewing machine. We agreed that although this would be an expensive purchase, it was one that Fiona would really enjoy for her 16th birthday.
Two weeks before Fiona's birthday, my youngest, Cathy, came running to me sobbing. Her beloved American girl doll was missing. I tried to calm her down while my husband looked around the house.
A few hours later, Fiona arrived home after shopping with some friends. I told her about the situation and Fiona promptly said, 'oh that old thing, I sold it.'
If ever there was a record scratch in real life moment this was it for me. Fiona then told me that she needed some money for a new spring wardrobe and didn't think Cathy would mind since, 'she rarely plays with the thing. It just sits there creepily in whatever outfit she put it in.'
Cathy was in the room and bursts into tears once more. My husband swiftly removes her from the room while I stare down my oldest.
Fiona had this almost sly smile on her face before telling me, 'I know you're going to say to return everything, but almost all of the clothes were on final sale, so I can't.' I told her she was grounded before sending her to her room.
I then sprung into action on getting Cathy her doll back. Took some time but I was able to not only cancel the fedex delivery, but the ebay seller understand the situation and accepted a refund.
Now, the problem with Fiona. I checked the receipts of the various stores and sure enough, my daughter bought almost everything on 'final sale'. My husband and I were out around seven hundred dollars.
My husband and I returned the sewing machine to help cover our financial loss. As for Fiona's birthday, we could still have dinner at his parent's house, with the cousins and whatnot, be no gifts. AITA?
Well, let's see what Reddit had to say.
thirstydchar writes:
NTA. But why are you not more concerned about this behavior aside from the money? Either this is out of character for Fiona, in which case you need to worry about what changed. Or this is in character for Fiona and you need to worry about having raised a terribly, almost absurdly entitled teen.
ponigirl2000 writes:
You are NTA, but your oldest very much is TA. She deserves way more punishment for her actions. After donating her clothes, I'd take her to a local goodwill or thrift store, and give her a budget for a new (to her) wardrobe. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
wordsmthyh writes:
NTA. I hope you sold everything she bought on Poshmark or eBay or something. Just because the clothes are not returnable, that's no reason to allow her to have them. I'd burn them before letting her get away with this.