Mom throws away son's deceased dog's collar, family erupts in conflict.
When this mom is concerned that she was a bad parent, she asks Reddit:
'AITA for giving away my son's childhood dog's collar?'
We had this dog many years ago which was technically a family dog but my son was the most attached to it so we let it become his dog. She passed away when my son was 13 and he kept her collar with him.
My son moved out when he went to uni and left some stuff in his room and downstairs in the basement in (unmarked) boxes. I explicitly told him when he left to make sure he marked all his boxes but lo and behold, some boxes were unmarked.
Months ago I wanted to clean out the basement so I took some boxes of old stuff there and put them outside to be tossed/given away.
There were a lot of old toys so I let the neighbourhood kids rummage around and take whatever they wanted. I recall the kids finding a collar in the boxes and taking it because he was going to get a puppy for his birthday.
My son was over for Thanksgiving and wanted to play the ukelele after eating but couldn't find it downstairs(it was also in an unmarked box and supposedly subsequently taken).
I told him that months ago I was clearing the basement and most unmarked boxes, and their contents, were tossed/given away. He went back downstairs and came back screaming and cursing asking where the box with the collar was.
I told him that I remembered them taking a collar but since we've had three dogs as a family, I didn't think to check which collar it was but if he can't find it then it was gone.
He completely lost his marbles and yelled at me for giving away his things without talking to him.
I reminded him that I'd told him to mark his stuff so I knew what to leave alone and what I could give away. He refused to listen and demanded I go get it back which I obviously refused to do because it was late and it's been months.
I see how I could be wrong because it was his and sentimental but then again I warned him about unmarked boxes. Aita?
Let's find out.
ratio54 writes:
A reasonable person would have given their son they presumably love a call before they tossed out his belongings, but I see you elected instead to teach him a lesson.
I sure hope there were some world's #1 parent coffee mugs in the boxes you chucked because they sure as hell don't belong in your house. YTA.
jlb886 writes:
YTA A lot of 18 year old boys wouldn't have the maturity and organizational skills to carefully put their things away in labeled boxes right before leaving for college.
My son still has some items stored in our basement. If I needed the room, I'd invite him over and offer to help him clean out his things, because I am a PARENT and not a BULLY.
You weren't parenting your son, spending time with him, or teaching him skills. You carelessly threw away this things, let the neighborhood kids rummage through things that may have been private, and let someone take the dog collar of your son's beloved pet. He will remember this forever.