Living in a mixed family is common these days, but it comes with its own set of issues. No home can exist without its members arguing from time to time. Especially when there are children involved who all want to be acknowledged and have their desires respected. But these minor squabbles and disputes are meaningless if there is a quick and universally acceptable answer. This, unfortunately, is not always the case. Read the story to know what happened in this blended family and do you agree with the mother’s decision?
Source: Reddit
Context: my daughter (12) is disabled, has been since she was 5. Her activities and interests are very limited except for her love for stickers. She loves collecting stickers and spends most of her time doing it. If there’s one thing she enjoys doing this is it. It also helps her get rid of stress and anxiety.
I’ve been saving for my stepson (16)s summer camp and so far have contributed 80% while his dad contributed 20%. It’s a huge deal for him and last week he was begging my daughter to give him her camera and she refused. He begged and she kept refusing. He then turned to me and his dad and his dad asked me to do something but I told him if it’s a no then he should just take it.
Obviously, this upset my stepson. Later I found out that he “punished” my daughter by throwing away all of her sticker collections. He admitted that he and 2 of his friends dumped them in car oil then burned them. I was in disbelief but very angry. I scolded him, banned his friends from the house then pulled back the 80% of money I paid towards his camp. He started crying and begging and apologizing then called my husband.
My husband told me that pulling the money was an overreaction and a step too far, he said I was trying to hurt his son rather than just “let him learn from this experience” (I don’t know what this supposed to mean) he offered that punish him by taking his electronics for 3 days but I said no, because he caused significant damage and caused my daughter lose valuable, childhood collections of stickers, some even were hard to get (like marvels for instance) my husband disagreed and said that I promised and can’t pull back now cause it’ll make my stepson resent me for good. He kept saying “don’t make that mistake” and guilting me about my decision.
I might be going too far but my daughter is devastated and is still crying over her collections and refusing to talk to anyone. I need some advice on if I’m wrong ?
Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
