Dealing with teenagers can sometimes make you feel very much like a teenager yourself.
Redditor @hails0908 is wondering if her reaction in this situation is warranted or if she went too far.
Here's The Story
OP is a 28-year-old woman with a 17-year-old stepdaughter. Her stepdaughter has a cousin who is 16, and the two often hang out together.
According to OP, the cousin is the most spoiled and entitled girl she's ever met. She also says that the two girls follow a ‘rule' that, if one of the girls buys something, none of their friends can buy the same item.
When the girls go shopping, or when her stepdaughter mentions liking something, the cousin will buy it within a few days, even if she never uses it.
OP thinks the cousin does this just because she can. She admits that she doesn't know if the girl just gets pleasure out of the buying experience, but lately it's been grating on her last nerve.
On a recent shopping trip, OP overheard the cousin mention a skirt she liked and decided to buy the skirt for her stepdaughter. She loves her stepdaughter “like a daughter” and “doesn't want to see her cousin treat her so badly.”
When OP told her husband, who is 55 years old, he said she should “just let it go,” and that “these are teenage problems.”
Now OP wants to know if her purchasing the skirt was too much.
Reddit Speaks Out
@Y-tho thinks OP is NTA and the cousin needs a ‘low-info diet.'
“NTA. I think you need to talk to your stepdaughter about putting her cousin on a low info diet. If the cousin keeps doing this your step daughter just shouldn’t tell her what she wants.”
@daquo0 thinks the cousin should “win a stupid prize.”
“…If the cousin wants to play a stupid game,” they wrote, “she can win a stupid prize.”
@RepresentativeGur250 thinks ‘teenage girls can be awful sometimes.'
“…I had friends like this as a teen, so I don’t think the whole I have it so you can’t thing is new. I got to a point where I thought screw it. I want it I’m buying it regardless. I actually had a couple of ‘friends’ write a list of things I wasn’t even allowed to like because they did…. Teenage girls are awful sometimes”
User @opinionswelcomehere thinks OP should teach her stepdaughter that if she really wants something, it doesn't matter who else has it.
“I think this rule might be the root of the cousin's entitlement TBH. It gives her power over the other girls and I think it's time to break the cycle. It's honestly not healthy to teach your stepdaughter that she can't have something she really wants just because someone else got it first.
NTA.”
Redditor @partofbreakfast thinks OP's stepdaughter should, wait to share.
“Don't share information until you already own the clothes. That's the way to do it. ‘Look at this cute outfit I got! I love it!'”
Reddit user @SugarFries thinks it's good OP is on her stepdaughter's side.
“NTA you are passively showing your stepdaughter that you are on her team and I am sure she is very grateful to know someone is on her side. …. but maybe also show her this teenage rule is the dumbest thing I and I'm sure you have heard of.”
In The End
Raising teenagers is never easy, and adding in a stepdaughter can make things even more difficult. Do you think OP handled the situation well?
Read the full story here.
This article is produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.