June 14, 2024 at 8:33 pm

Woman Tries To Make Her Neglected Niece Feel Special With A Handmade Gift, But Her Sister Demands A Gift For Their Other Daughter Gift

by Ryan McCarthy

Source: Reddit/AITA/Pexels/Karolina Kaboompics

Parents are the best source of advice us kids have, and most parents are happy to answer almost any question their kids have for them. Except one: “Who’s your favorite?”

And while most parents would never outwardly show their favoritism to one child, there are some that make no effort to hide their preferential treatment!

Like this user’s sister, who along with her husband clearly favored their older daughter. So OP tried to make the younger daughter feel special by making her a doll that looked just like her.

But instead of being happy, their parents demanded to know when their golden daughter was getting her doll!

Was OP wrong to only make a doll for her younger niece? Decide for yourself!

AITA for refusing to make my niece a doll like her sister’s?

I (26, F) have no kids. But my oldest brother has two daughters. Oldest is now 7, younger just turned 5.

I love both of them a lot, but I’m not blind. As someone who grew up with siblings, it’s very clear that oldest daughter (ON) is golden child.

She gets whatever she wants, no matter how expensive, and is always showered with praise for her pageants and singing.

My younger niece (YN) is very shy, but she is still very sweet and enjoys things like reading and animals.

But OP had begun to notice that this preferential treatment was having a negative effect on her younger niece…

Recently, my YN has been feeling bad about herself. I asked why, and she told me it was because she didn’t like her hair color. She’s got auburn curls.

She was sad because everyone always said how pretty ON’s hair was, which was a very light blonde and straight.

It got so bad that she’d apparently tried to cut it off, which her mom had just laughed off as childhood mishap.

So she set out to make her niece feel like the special one for once in her life…

When I was over at brother’s house, I noticed that the two were playing with dolls. ON had a very nice Barbie doll, while YN had what looked like a short, cheap Walmart knockoff.

I asked why, and mom said it was because she couldn’t find a doll with red hair. This made me upset, because 1. The doll’s hair is bright red, which is not her hair color, and 2.

It was extremely different quality. I said nothing, but when it was YN birthday, I acted.

But she wasn’t content to just buy a doll for her niece, she wanted to make one!

For months I researched doll making and restoring. I took a Barbie, and replaced her hair with some that matched hers and painted the eyes.

I then hand sewed several custom outfits, and gave each a blue whale theme (her favorite animal).

As a cosplayer, this wasn’t that hard.

And sure enough, her younger niece was over the moon about a doll that actually looked like her!

On her birthday, YN was ecstatic. But her sister was obviously not. I didn’t pay attention to her, instead focusing on making sure YN liked her gifts.

But only a few days later, her parents called me, telling me that I needed to make ON a doll as well. I said I’d get her one on her next birthday.

They said no, she needed it immediately because she’d been upset that her sister’s doll was customized unlike her store bought ones, and was mad that YN wouldn’t share.

But the hypocritical parents had the nerve to accuse OP of not caring about one niece’s feelings!

I told them again that it was a project, and I’d make her one next year. They both accused me of not caring about ON’s feelings.

I got mad, saying that neither of them cared about being fair when YN was playing with a troll doll that was supposed to ‘look like her’.

This was a gift meant to make YN feel special, and I wasn’t going to cheapen it because ON was pouting.

I hung up, but started to wonder.

AITA?

So the older niece isn’t the center of attention for one moment, and suddenly the world is about to end?

But in all fairness, it’s not the older girl’s fault, its her parents for favoring her so terribly! Let the younger sister have a moment in the sun!

Reddit assured OP she wasn’t in the wrong, and that she was actually being an amazing aunt to her young niece.

Source: Reddit/AITA

This user defended the older girl, saying it wasn’t her fault that her parents had parented her badly.

Source: Reddit/AITA

This user told OP that she might need to confront the parents directly about their treatment of their daughters.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Finally, this user warned OP to keep an eye on the doll in case it has a mysterious accident at the hands of her older niece!

Source: Reddit/AITA

Everyone deserves an Aunt like OP!

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