Stepparenting can be a tough job.

But this story, maybe one stepmom was a little too tough?

Let’s step into this family drama.

AITA for returning my stepson’s birthday present?

I (27f) have been married for 2 years to my wonderful husband (34m) and we’ve been together for 7 years.

He has a son from a previous marriage who’s 12 years old.

I know I’m not his bio mom but I think we have a really good relationship (his biological mother hasn’t been in the picture for a long time).

Sounds like a happy blended family, but trouble is brewing…

We don’t have a ton of money, but I’ve been saving up, and for his 13th birthday his Dad and I were going to get him a Nintendo switch.

The problem is that my stepson just got in trouble at school, which he never has before.

I don’t want to say exactly what happened but it’s pretty clear he’s been bullying another student.

Most people agree bullying = bad. But how will stepmom react?

I was bullied pretty significantly in middle school and it’s not something I want to reward my stepson for so I returned the switch and got a full refund.

I figured we’d get him something smaller and maybe reevaluate where he’s at over Christmas.

But now my husband is mad because he thinks returning it is an overreaction, and I’m mad because I thought we would be on the same page about this.

Hm, sounds like a communication breakdown.

He’s even been hinting to my stepson that we were going to get him something big but I decided he doesn’t deserve it.

It’s causing a lot of tension in the house and it’s making me think maybe I overreacted because of my own past.

So AITA for returning his birthday present?

Did she pull a bait and switch, or did she do the right thing?

Let’s see what the comments say.

This person says communication is key.

Another person says, bullying and birthdays are separate.

Another person says, first strike shouldn’t be out.

Somebody else votes for better communication.

This user is like… tell me more??

A switch was flipped in this step-family and tensions are high.

I hope they can figure things out going forward.

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.