Did you get punished a lot as a kid?
I did a couple of times but I mostly kept my nose clean…or my folks never found out what I was really up to…and I’m thankful for that!
Check out this story from Reddit’s “Am I the A**hole?” page and see if you think this mom went too far when she punished her daughter.
AITA for the punishment I gave my daughter?
“My husband (43m) and I (40f) have 3 kids, Bea 13F, Paul 10m and Zoe 8F.
My husband grew up very privileged and has also done very well for himself and takes very good care of me and the kids. We have never wanted for anything and have been able to afford to have help where we need it.
I’m very appreciative of everything my husband has done for us and have always made sure to let my kids know that we are very lucky and very spoiled. I’ve tried to always instill in them that we should always take care of people where we can and always pay people properly for services they provide for us.
I’ve always had my kids pack up clothes or things they’ve outgrown and we donate them to those that need them more. I thought I was doing a good thing and teaching them to have empathy and understanding of just how lucky we are.
Well I guess I failed as a mother, I came home early a few days ago and walked into the house to hear my eldest screaming at our nanny. She was screaming that “youre a maid, that’s what we pay you for, to clean up after our family, do your job” I’ve never heard my children speak like this to anybody and I saw red.
I was calm in front of my daughter and sent her to her room, took away her electronics and told her I will speak to her when he dad comes home. Our nanny was in tears, so I sat with her and got her side of the story and helped her calm down. All she did was ask our daughter to put her dirty clothes in her hamper so she could start laundry.
This woman has helped me through pp with all my kids, she’s literally been a rock for me and our family for 13 years. I love her and see her as family and I’m still upset over how she was treated. I gave her a couple of paid days off to decompress and let her go home.
My husband and I decided that as far as punishment goes for our daughter, we will keep her electronics, she will spend her weekends volunteering at the youth center for under privileged kids, she must write a full apology letter to our nanny and she must take care of herself/her chores.
My husband and I sat down with her and explained all of this to her, I also told her that she doesn’t pay anybody for anything, she has no money of her own aside from what she has saved from birthdays/allowance and that having people in our home to help us is a privilege, not a right.
Until she can understand this, I expect her to take full care of herself and not accept any help from the people her father pays to give us an easier life. Meaning, she will do her own laundry, keep her room clean and take full care of her puppy. None of this is up for debate and her father and I will talk in 4 weeks to see if we think she understands our point then.
Of course she went running to my mother in law. The whole of my husbands family say we are completely out of order and ruining our daughter. My family say the opposite.
Have I really gone too far?”
And here’s how folks reacted on Reddit.
One reader said that they kind of had a problem with this story.
Photo Credit: Reddit
And another reader disagreed based on their life experience
Photo Credit: Reddit
This Reddit user called this “perfect parenting.”
Photo Credit: Reddit
What do you think about this story?
Let us know in the comments.
Thanks a lot!
