What do you get a mom for Mother’s Day who makes irresponsible financial decisions?

Do you get a gift that seems to support those decisions, or do you choose not to get anything at all because giving might actually be enabling?

In today’s story, two siblings disagree about how to handle the Mother’s Day gift, and for one sibling, it really comes down to disagreeing with the mother’s life choices.

Let’s read all the details.

AITA for refusing to help buy my mom a security camera system after her poor decisions?

My mom is moving to another state soon because of a bunch of bad decisions she made.

Over the past six months, she’s been on two international vacations — despite not being financially stable .

She recently broke up with her boyfriend because he thought all the traveling was irresponsible (especially since she sometimes asked him for financial help with these vacations).

She said he was being controlling over her right to travel.

She liked having a father figure.

Now that she’s back from her latest trip, she’s completely broke, and obviously, her boyfriend is no longer around.

It really sucks because this was the first time I ever had a father figure in my life, and it was the first time I saw my mom happy with someone.

This mom has never been responsible with financial decisions.

This isn’t new behavior — growing up, I watched her make terrible financial decisions time and time again.

I went through periods of food insecurity, and several years of watching her be financially abused by one of her ex’s due to her bad decisions.

It’s frustrating because I feel like everything she’s dealing with now was 100% preventable.

Her sister has a Mother’s Day gift idea.

Now, with Mother’s Day coming up, my sister reached out asking if I would pitch in to buy our mom a security camera system for her house since she will be gone for several months.

I told her no.

I don’t want to support or enable the choices that led her to this situation.

I also already agreed to check on the house every few weeks (which I already dont want to do because her house is an hour away from me, and again I dont support the choices that led to this).

The sister defends the mom’s choices.

My sister thinks I’m being cold-hearted, but I feel like there’s a difference between being supportive and being a doormat.

I love my mom and wish her the best, but I cannot support her decisions.

My sister points out how my mom has had a hard life and she deserves to travel and have fun, and that her situation right now is not her fault, but i disagree.

AITA?

She has every right to choose what to get and what not to get their mother for Mother’s Day.

Her sister is also free to make a different decision.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person asks some good questions.

This is a good point.

The gift probably would be enabling her mother.

End the financial support.

A gift is a bad idea if it encourages bad financial decisions.

Mom needs to change her thinking, and fast.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.