Sentimental Daughter Wants To Save Her Favorite Childhood Toys, But Her Mom Wants Her To Share Them With Her Half-Siblings. Who’s Right?
by Michael Levanduski
It is devastating when a parent dies, especially while you are still young.
Clinging to items they bought you can be a way to hold on to their memories.
But what happens if your surviving parent wants you to share those objects with your new half-siblings?
That’s what this young lady is dealing with, and she wants to know if her reaction is out of line.
Take a look.
AITA for getting my uncle to store some sentimental toys for me so I won’t be forced to share any of it with my younger half siblings?
I (17f) always had this smallish collection of sentimental toys that my dad brought home for me whenever he’d travel for work.
There were plushies, figurines of characters I loved, diorama’s of worlds from my favorite things, for example I have a Narnia diorama.
I had them decorating my room for years.
I took them down when my mom gave birth to my 5 year old half sister because she was in my room for a year.
Heartbreaking.
This stuff means so much more to me because my dad died when I was 8.
I clung to those memories of him within the toys he brought me and I hated taking them down.
But I would rather have them stored and not see them than have something break.
7 or 8 months ago my mom suggested I pick out a little something from my collection and give something to each of my half sister’s.
It’s not a bad idea to try to bond with your half-siblings.
She told me it would go a long way to making them feel like I care even though I’m really not interested in them.
It’s true that I am disinterested in them.
I told my mom they were too sentimental and special for me to give away like that and the only people who one day might get them are my future kids if they’re into any of the stuff I was as a kid.
Mom needs to find another way to encourage her to bond.
My mom took that badly and she told me that I’m going to get older and maybe one day I’ll wish I had allowed myself to love my half siblings instead of being so detached and so territorial of stuff from my dad with them.
I told her it could happen.
She said I should be proactive and reduce any regret I could feel when that time comes.
After that talk I called up my uncle, my dad’s brother, and I asked him if he would take the toys and keep them safe for me.
He agreed easily and when my mom and her husband were at work and my half sisters were at preschool I gave him the boxes with those things.
Good job uncle!
He promised he would keep them safe and I’ve seen them at his house since.
So they’re safe. But I didn’t tell my mom what I did.
My mom brought up the toys several more times since that time and I always kept my answer to no.
Then a few days ago she was like where the heck are they after telling me something Lion King for my first half sister would be amazing and my Appa plush would be best for my youngest half sister because she loves cute animals.
I told mom I had them safe.
She asked what the heck that meant.
I said she was really obsessed with me giving something to my half sisters from it and I wasn’t taking chances that she would pick something out to give to them behind my back but saying they were from me.
So I asked a trusted person to keep them safe.
Umm, they are hers and she is nearly an adult.
She told me I had no business taking those toys out of the house without permission and she told me I’m basically screaming at everyone that I don’t love my half sisters and want nothing to do with them with my actions.
She told me she had long ago realized how I felt but she expects me to not show it to the kids.
It got really heated and her husband told mom I should be grounded.
She said there was no point because I wouldn’t learn.
AITA?
While she should make an effort to bond with her half-siblings, it is perfectly fine that those toys are off-limits.
Take a look at what some of the top commenters thought about the situation.
This is a great comment and I agree 100%
Why would those kids care?
Their sentimental value is infinite.
What’s the difference whether they are new or old?
Yeah, mom is really failing her daughter here.
Mom really needs to back off!
Otherwise she’s just going to push them further apart.
If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.