Parents Steal Money from Their 15-Year-Old Daughter to Buy Sneakers for Their Other Kid

A pair of sneakers sparked an argument between a 16-year-old girl and her parents after discovering they had stolen her savings and spent it on buying the shoes for her younger sister. 

The teenager had saved money for her birthday party because her parents couldn’t afford to celebrate it. She had invited her friends and was excited to enjoy her big day.

However, her parents ruined her plans by stealing her hard-earned money. She wrote a detailed Reddit post to reveal why they stole it. 

The girl had saved money for her birthday party. | Source: Unsplash

After getting a summer job a few months ago, Redditor Deerzy1986 had saved about $120 for her birthday celebration. She worked hard and kept most of her earnings.

Her parents had stopped celebrating her birthday because they didn’t have enough money. After seeing that they didn’t do anything for her birthday the previous year, she didn’t want the same on her sixteenth birthday.

A week before the big day, she checked her savings to count them and see how much money she had saved. She had kept the money under her bed.

She looked for the money under her bed but couldn’t find it. | Source: Unsplash

The girl was shocked when she lifted her mattress and found no money under it. She threw it on the floor and searched the entire bed to no avail.

The girl anxiously waited for her family to return.

She even bent down and rummaged through the boxes under her bed, but her money was nowhere to be found. The girl could feel her heart pacing at this moment.

She couldn’t find her money anywhere. | Source: Pexels

Suddenly, she realized her mother must have taken the money because she had done the same before. She had taken her money from under her bed without her permission.

After visiting her mother’s room and realizing she was not home, the girl dialed her mother’s number and asked her about the money. Her mother said she had taken the money to keep it safe with her.

Since she was out with the girl’s autistic sister and father, she told her to wait until she got home. The girl anxiously waited for her family to return. She knew she couldn’t call off her birthday party at any cost.

She called her mother to ask about her missing money. | Source: Unsplash

When she finally heard the main door open, she ran to the living room and saw her younger sister entering the house holding a bag of expensive sneakers in her hand.

“Mom and Dad got me a new pair of sneakers!” she chirped while lifting the sneaker bag so her sister could see it. The girl smiled and waited for her mother to enter so she could ask her about the money. When she did, what she learned left her stunned.

“She said she spent it on new sneakers for my sister,” the girl stated. Her eyes widened with shock because she knew her parents wouldn’t be returning her money anytime soon. 

Her father said he couldn’t say no to her younger sister because she had a “meltdown” in the sneaker store, and buying the shoes was the only way to calm her down.

Her sister showed her the new pair of sneakers. | Source: Unsplash

Furious, the girl told them she had saved the money for her birthday party, but her father promised her he would return the money next month.

“Next month? I can’t postpone my birthday at any cost!” the girl yelled, “My friends will make fun of me, Dad!” 

Her father told her that real friends don’t laugh at you when you have a genuine problem, but the girl kept arguing, asking her father to return the money. Her nagging made him lose his temper, and he yelled at her, telling her he couldn’t return the money before next month.

“You both are thieves!” the girl screamed, “I hate you for ruining my birthday again!” 

She felt sad that her parents had spent her hard-earned money. | Source: Unsplash

Her father turned towards her with his eyebrows pulled down and eyes wide open. He scolded her and told her she wouldn’t be celebrating her birthday this time because he was grounding her. He forbade her from unnecessarily leaving the house for a month and told her to go away.

Meanwhile, her mother gave her a disapproving stare. She ran upstairs to her room because she didn’t want to talk to her parents anymore. She never thought they would ruin her big day like that. 

Her parents shouted that she needed to learn some manners, so she didn’t call her parents “thieves” again. After reaching her room, she wrote a Reddit post asking others if she was at fault for throwing a tantrum and not understanding her sister’s struggles.

She posted her story on Reddit. | Source: Unsplash

“They are thieves, and you worked for that money, so they can’t call you spoiled,” Redditor ScorchieSong stated. The user felt her parents had neglected her because they couldn’t even buy a cake for her birthday. 

After a user suggested calling the cops, Redditor darthwalsh highlighted that they might side with her parents because she was a minor, so calling them wouldn’t be helpful.

Redditor Indigorose22 advised the girl to leave once she turned 18 and hide her savings, so her parents don’t steal them again. If they did, the user said she should call the police.

Most Redditors felt her parents were at fault for taking her money without her permission. They also agreed that her parents were neglecting her.

Other Redditors shared their opinions in the comments section. | | Source: Unsplash

Questions to Ponder:

Do you think OP had the right to lash out at her parents for spending her money on her sister?

While OP expressed her anger towards her parents for taking her money and spending it on her sister, at one point, she felt guilty and even asked Redditors if she was at fault for not understanding her sister’s struggles. Do you think OP’s anger was valid and justified? What would you advise OP moving forward?

Should the girl have talked to her parents calmly?

The girl never talked to her parents calmly. She only yelled at them, which sparked an argument and compelled them to ground her. Do you think things would have been different if she confronted her parents calmly instead of yelling at them? Do you think she can still talk to them and make them warm up to celebrating her birthday?

If you enjoyed reading this story, you might like this one about a woman who stole money from her daughter for five years, not knowing that the girl was keeping a record of every cent she stole.

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