
Teenagers can be frustrating. If you've ever tried to get one to do a chore on a reasonable timeline, you know just how stressful they can make your life. There are a million amazing things about raising kids in that age range, too, but parents face a lot of challenges. The key seems to be lowered expectations in some areas and a lot of effective communication in others.
One mom grew frustrated with her teenager, and she decided to teach her a lesson.
A frustrated mom (OP) of a teenage girl took to Reddit's AITA channel to ask for advice after an incident led her family to side with the teenager. The mom called herself "kind of a neat freak" and said she has some standards of living in her house that include toys and items being put away the correct way — but this personality trait isn't new to her family.
"The kids (16, 13, 9, and 6) are all responsible for putting away their laundry, and my oldest two are responsible for folding their own clothes," OP wrote. "Which bothers me because my 13 year old folds his clothes in a way that bothers me, he rolls them up instead of properly folding them."
She said that because the kids have been home more, due to the worldwide health crisis, she's "more strict" about how the laundry is put away. "I expect their clothes to be folded a certain way and organized in a certain way in their drawers," OP said.
Mom said she took a cue from a "mommy blogger" that she read a few years ago, who was struggling with a similar issue.

"I read from a mommy blogger a few years ago, that when her kid's drawers weren't organized she would make a mess for them to organize the right way," OP explained. "I considered it for a few years, but now that the kids are old enough, I think it's the way to go for us."
Mom said she hasn't had to resort to that tactic until recently. "I walked into my 16 year old's room while she was Facetiming her boyfriend, and saw her basket of laundry that needed to be folded and out of curiosity, opened her drawers, and saw she has shoved her clothes in there," OP said. "I started making a mess and she screamed 'Mom why?' and I told her she knew why."
Things didn't get better from there for anyone.
Mom says she walked out of the room after making a mess, and she overheard her teen talking to her boyfriend. Mom popped her head into the room to "give her a look" and mom said, "she ends the call with him and breaks down crying."
OP wrote that she told her husband everything that had happened, and he was surprised.
"I told my husband what happened, he told me 'I knew said you were gonna do that but I didn't know you would actually follow through,'" OP wrote.
And the situation got worse. OP woke up to a note that was posted on her daughter's door.
According to the mom, the note read, "Until mom can get mental help, I'm staying with Aunt (my sister's name).” OP texted her daughter and tried calling her, but didn't get any reply — so she reached out to her sister, where her daughter was staying.
"I tried contacting my sister, who said she has no plans to return until I 'get mental help and stop being such a controlling b–ch,” OP wrote.
OP explained that her husband, sister, and her mom "are all against me in this which hurts."
Despite everyone being "against" her, OP says she doesn't think it was wrong.
She said she doesn't think it harmed her daughter, adding, "it benefits her and helps her stay organized," but she wanted to hear from the Reddit community.
"YTA," one person commented. "You know who acts like this?? Marine Corps Drill Instructors. Why? To mentally f— with recruits. This is not okay within the family unit. It's insane that you think it's okay to control how your kids fold their clothes in their drawers."
Another agreed, saying OP was "TA" adding, "You shouldn't even be in your older two children's rooms much, let alone going through their drawers. Plus just because they do it differently than you doesn't make the way they put away clothes incorrect."
A third person chimed in as well. "YTA for sure… it's their space, and tbh i don't see how their drawers being organized bothers you at all. So what if they just shove clothes in there? It's their loss for being unorganized, but just let it go. I can sort of understand wanting a clean room but really? Going into their space and making a mess? Especially while she is on the phone with her BOYFRIEND… how embarrassing…"
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