Woman Stunned After Stepson Torches Sister’s Belongings to ‘Punish’ Her
Squabbles are common among siblings, however, one teen took things way too far after a disagreement with his stepsister.
A woman on Reddit revealed her stepson torched his sister's belongings after he didn't get his way.
The woman's 12-year-old daughter is "disabled" and "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," the woman wrote via Reddit, adding the hobby "also helps her get rid of stress and anxiety."
The woman had been saving up to pay for her stepson's summer camp, and so far had contributed "80% while his dad contributed 20%" towards the fund.
"It's a huge deal for him and last week he was begging my daughter to give him her camera and she refused," she wrote. "He begged and she kept refusing."
The teen tried to get his dad to intervene and force the girl to give him her camera to bring to camp, but the stepmom told him that if he was told no, then he needed to accept the answer.
"Obviously, this upset my stepson. Later I found out that he 'punished' my daughter by throwing away all of her sticker collections," she continued. "He admitted that he and [two] of his friends dumped them in car oil [and] then burned them. I was in disbelief but very angry."
After she scolded her stepson and banned his friends from their house, she pulled the money she had put toward camp.
"He started crying and begging and apologizing then called my husband," she wrote. "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)."
The dad agreed to punish his son by taking away all of his electronics for three days, but the woman still refused to pay for camp.
"My husband disagreed and said that I promised and can't pull back now cause it'll make my stepson resent me for good," she added. "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."
On Reddit, users rallied behind the woman, letting her know she did the right thing by sticking up for her daughter.
"Your husband is an AH (a--hole) ... Your stepson is also an AH (a--hole). He should have to get a job for the summer to buy back every sticker. Do not reward him for destroying your daughter's stickers. And your husband is making him into an entitled jerk," one person wrote.
"This wasn’t just hiding stickers, it was actively destroying them. He destroyed someone’s happiness in direct malice and retribution, he can’t claim unfair on losing something he wanted to do. Watch out for any further retaliation towards your daughter. It may be her camera goes missing and your stepson’s camp fund has an unexpected top up," another wrote.
"The natural consequence for his actions is using that money to replace her sticker collection. It won’t bring it back the way it was, but it could help restore some of it," someone else commented.