No One Helped Me as a Struggling Single Mom — Now I Won the Lottery & My Family Wants Me To Share

yasindmrblk/iStock

For many people, the thought of winning the lottery sounds like an answer to their prayers. If they had more money, then life would be easier. Although many people dream of winning big bucks, a windfall is sometimes more of a nightmare than a blessing. A single mom thought her lottery win would improve her life. Instead, the pressure to share is causing a lot of trouble.

She posted in Reddit’s AITA forum about winning a “decent” lottery jackpot. Her family quickly bombarded her asking her to share the wealth. She deleted her original post, but not before thousands of upvotes and comments. Redditors agreed that her family needs to back off.

More From CafeMom: I Gave My Nephew Pizza Bagels When I Was Babysitting & Now My Sister Refuses To Speak to Me

The original poster called her mom to share the news.

via GIPHY

Per Newsweek, she bought the winning ticket during a grocery run and unexpectedly won a jackpot.

“Anyway, I was ecstatic. First thing I did was call my mom. She was excited at first, but then like a minute later, she starts saying, ‘So, are you going to share it with the family?’ Like, before I’d even processed the news myself,” she wrote.

Her mother asked OP to share her prize.

Even though she isn’t particularly close to her family, OP’s mom immediately asked her about dividing up the winnings. OP wasn’t interested in sharing. Instead, she wants to keep the money to pay off debts and provide care for her autistic son.

“So, I was really surprised when she asked about sharing the winnings right away. And, to be real, my gut reaction was kind of, ‘Um, no.’ I mean, where was this’ family takes care of family’ idea when I was struggling?” she wrote.

Her mother called OP selfish, and she started to wonder if she was wrong for wanting to keep her lottery prize for herself.

Redditors quickly defended OP.

via GIPHY

They didn’t believe she needed to share her lottery winnings with family who didn’t support her.

Someone wrote,”NTA! Take good care of you and you son and enjoy it! Your parents and siblings should be happy for you and you sons instead of bering jelous !! Also take care as you have money know you will get a lot of new friends !! You know what i mean..”

This person agreed, commenting, “tell them you need the money to help pay for the additional support you need to live and raise your kid since you have not received any support from anyone, maybe invest in some extra childcare amd/therapist/specialist too so you can get extra support and reduce the pressure on you as a family it will help all of you in the long run.”

Some thought the single mom should have kept the information to herself.

“You should never ever disclose your lottery winnings or any other events where you receive substantial money to anyone especially your siblings, cousins, friends or your parents,” one person commented. “Money ruins relationships and people expect handouts. Don’t fall for their emotional manipulation.”

Plenty agreed, like the Redditor who wrote, “NTA. Lesson learned – you shouldn’t have told anyone. But, your family is being absurd. You don’t owe anyone anything. Take care of yourself and your needs.”

Someone had a wild suggestion for OP.

via GIPHY

One Redditor told the OP to lie about winning the lottery and contact an attorney. It’s an interesting, risky move.

“Call your mom and ‘apologize’ for making up the story about the lottery win. Tell her it was one of those stupid TikTok challenges to tell family and friends you either won or inherited a huge pile of money to see how they react so you know who your true friends and family really are,” the person wrote. “Tell her you actually did win but it was just a trip for two to Disney and since you have to pay the taxes on the trip you’re not sure you’ll even claim it. (That part covers you later when you take your son to Disney). Tell her you feel like an idiot for taking these stupid TikTok videos seriously and that you hope she’s not mad at you.”

The person added this advice: “Find a good lawyer who can set up a trust for your son and his special needs and invest the rest for the long term with maybe some income along the way.”