Woman expects 10-year-old sister to pay her back with birthday cash; AITA?
Birthday money is one of the epic joys of childhood...
A little spending money to stretch over the course of seven trips to the mall is a true reason to celebrate if kids still go to malls. So, when a conflicted young woman decided to consult the moral compass of the internet about whether or not she should take her little sister's cash to replace her damaged makeup, people were ready to help.
'WIBTA if I made my 10yr old sister use her birthday money to pay me back?'
I (24f) recently moved back in with my parents so I could finish trade school. My little sister (10) and I share a jack and Jill bathroom, I had been noticing slime and spilled wax all over the counter tops and and light switch in my side of the bathroom and had talked to my parents about keeping my little sister out of my side of the bathroom.
Well 2 weeks ago I was supposed to go on a date but couldn’t find any of my makeup, I asked my little sister if she had taken it out of my bathroom and her response was “I didn’t even know you wore makeup.'
She’s a good kid so I believed her and figured I must have lost my makeup in the move which pissed me off because I buy expensive stuff since I don’t use it too often. I ended up going to the store that day and just replacing the concealer/foundation ($100) since I couldn’t afford to replace my whole set.
Well this morning I wake up to find my old concealer/foundation sitting right on top of the new ones I just bought. I asked my mom if she had found it somewhere and she said she never touched it.
It was pretty obvious that it had leaked or something because there was makeup all on the outside of the bottle and it was way more empty than when I last had it. My mom immediately thinks that my little sister took it and goes into her room to snoop around.
The next think I know my mom starts tossing the room and I’m trying to get her to stop when she finally dumps out a drawer with not only my makeup but a bunch of makeup of my moms that had gone missing.
My sister had taken 2 makeup pallets of mine, 1 I hadn’t even opened yet, brushes, lipstick, eye liner, basically everything. On top of that my mom found open containers of slime and paint that had seeped into the carpet and other sh*t she had stolen from around the house.
All of the makeup she took from my mom and I were destroyed, the pallets were mixed together and cracked, brushes had paint in them, lipstick mashed, and everything was covered in slime.
When me and my parents confronted her she denied everything, even said that she didn’t use any of the makeup when it was an obvious lie.
My parents have grounded her for month (no phone, no electronics) and have offered to pay me back but I don’t want them to pay me back I want HER to pay me back. She stole and destroyed nearly $200 in makeup and lied to my face about it, the worst part is I’ve only been living here for 3 weeks!
Her 11th birthday is coming up in 2 months and I’m wondering if i would be the a*#hole if I made her use her birthday money to pay me back? I feel like taking her birthday money is cruel especially because it’s the only kind of spending money she gets all year and my parents have suggested chores but what chores is she gonna do for me to pay me back? I do more chores than her and I pay rent!
Later, she edited the post to include:
My parents are not against her paying me back with her birthday money, they actually suggested it first, they’re leaving it up to me to decide how I want to be paid back. My grandparents give her a $200 check every birthday on top of toys/art stuff for extra spending money during the year.
Of course, the jury of internet strangers was ready to weigh in on this family drama. Here's what people had to say:
mexigogen said:
It's not really up to you is it? Her and your parents are legally responsible for damages caused by their child. Hence the money is truly their responsibility. Raising your sister is also their job.
If they chose to use her bday money to pay you back then fine. It could probably be seen as proper consequences for her actions. But it's not really your place to decide this.
RalphWastoid319 said:
The real question is, what is going on with your little sister that she is stealing and lying? She's obviously acting out for some reason.
duke113 said:
YTA. Parents are responsible for their underage children's actions, and they've offered to make you whole by paying for the makeup. Anything else is between them and your sister.
Finklesfudge said:
YTA, she's 10, she did a bad thing, she is grounded. Good grief, why are you even comparing 'I do more chores! I pay rent!' It's cruel, she's being punished already, and she's flippin 10 years old, you aren't even her parent, you haven't even lived in the house for a month to start acting like this.
Her birthday is in 2 months and you want to scheme a way to steal her future money, far after she is already finished punishment. This is all just schemey and YTA behavior.