No parent wants to be accused of having a favorite kid (whether or not it's true). But that's exactly what happened to one mom recently, when her husband said that spending $200 more on her 6-year-old daughter's Christmas gifts was going to hurt their 3-year-old's feelings. The mom argued that she had a good reason for splurging on a pricier present for her daughter, but not everyone online agrees with her thinking.
According to the woman, this whole mess started when her daughter begged to go on a $200 field trip to an amusement park.
In her anonymous Reddit post, the mom explained that parents were given four months' notice beforehand to pony up the money for the trip.
"I explained to my daughter that because it wasn't educational that although I paid for it, I expected her to pay me back by working off the money," the mother wrote.
The parents agreed that their daughter would do extra chores to earn money for the field trip. And for those who might think that's a bit extreme, the mom insists that the chores weren't hard.
"None of the extra chores take very long, so we only take off a dollar per job," she wrote. "Things like sorting the recycling, helping with the dishes, checking for rocks before her father mows the lawn, etc. She has worked diligently and I am so proud of her dedication."
But sadly, the little girl was hit with some bad news: Not enough people signed up for the trip, so the school refunded parents the money.
"[My daughter] is obviously very disappointed," the mom explained. "I don't feel that the $200 is mine anymore, as she worked for it. But I am also not willing to give a 6-year-old $200."
So she gave it some thought, and soon came up with a plan.
"My budget for my two children's Christmas gifts is $200," the poster explained. "So with the extra money that my daughter earned, I decided to buy her this ridiculous Barbie Mansion Dream House she has been wanting for years. It cost $250 so I see it as only $50 of her Christmas budget."
She continued, "I am always the parent responsible for the Christmas shopping and my husband has never asked for input before so I didn't think to ask him about this."
The mom also made the purchase quite early (after all, it's not even Thanksgiving yet!), and didn't hesitate to answer when her husband asked how much the large gift was.
Let's just say he wasn't happy that she bought that and still plans on spending the "remaining" $150 on more presents.
"He thinks it is unfair for our daughter's budget to have gone up by 100 percent and that this excludes our son," the woman shared. "Our son is 3. I honestly don't think he will care, he is getting 'more' gifts, just ones that are not expensive."
Her husband argued that the mom should have put the money in a bank account to save for her daughter's future.
"I believe that as she earned the money for something fun it should go towards something fun," the mom explained. "If the children were older I would agree with him. But also if they were older I would just give her the $200 to spend on what she wants."
Now, her husband is asking her to either return the Barbie house or to add another $200 worth of gifts to her son's Christmas budget.
"He believes I am playing favorites and it will make the children resent each other," she concluded.
First of all, most people on Reddit were pretty hung up on the whole making-your-6-year-old-pay-for-her-own-field-trip thing.
"Basically stopped reading after mentioned having a 6-YEAR OLD REIMBURSE YOU FOR A FIELD TRIP," one person wrote. "Good Lord."
"YTA for thinking a child of 6 years has to work for a school trip but then isn't old enough to own the money," another person added. "That's a clear sign she's too young for having to work for it too."
"You made a 6-year-old work off a school trip at $1 per task?!" another person asked. "And then, didn't give her the money (even your husband's bank account idea is better than a more expensive Christmas gift) If I were her, I'd feel so lied to."
Other people thought the poster's husband was being ridiculous -- and so were many of the other commenters.
"This sub is so weird sometimes," one person wrote. "Chores are a common part of many households, and picking up rocks and doing the recycling are not exactly back-busting activities. Original Poster is just teaching her kid to be responsible, but from the responses you'd think she had her daughter working in a sweatshop."
"Your other child is 3," another person chimed in. "Your husband is being ridiculous."
"You're being super fair and reasonable and honestly a great parent for teaching your daughter work ethic and that it pays off to work for things she wants," someone else wrote. "Your 3-year-old has no idea that his gift isn't as expensive and you're right she did earn it."
As for the mom's haters, she had some strong words for them ...
"The rule in our home is 'good kids get good things,'" she later added in the comment thread. "If she wants to go to the movies, it depends on her behavior and part of that is completing chores. I don't make her earn off every dollar I spend on her."
Although the two parents may not agree on everything, they do agree on the value of hard work.
"I thought having a good goal to work towards would help teach her long-term goal setting and my husband agrees with me on this," she wrote.
As for what will happen with that Christmas budget, though, that remains to be seen.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
