Source: Pexels/Reddit

It starts innocently enough: a few shiny cards, a little nostalgia, maybe a booster pack as a treat. But before you know it, what started as fun hobby collecting Pokemon is now a shameful addiction.

What would you do if your parent of all people got sucked down the Pokemon card rabbit hole? One girl recently shared her unfortunate situation with her own mother like this on Reddit. Here’s what happened.

AITA for telling my mom she’s addicted to Pokémon cards??

I’m 18 and heading off to college very very soon.

My mother is in her 50s.

For further context, my dad has a drug problem and my brother is high support needs and autistic.

That’s an inherently pretty stressful dynamic.

My house is very stressful and financially we are NOT doing well ever due to horrible mismanagement.

I was lucky enough to get a full ride for college so I could leave and never turn back, though I don’t want to.

Recently, as of February, I began a hobby in Pokémon cars collecting.

Sounds like a good way to get one’s mind off things.

I just collect cute, relatively cheap cards.

I’ve put in a lot of time to try and understand the Pokémon card trade/sell market, learning about grading, shady whatnot seller, etc.

Early in my hobby, I watched (probably very shady) whatnot sellers and purchased Pokémon cards from them with my mother.

That’s one way to foster a bond…

It became a nice shared hobby.

Well, one thing leads to another, we’ve spent too much.

I decided to stop buying Pokémon cards.

Sadly, the most responsible decision.

My mother, however, continues to buy Pokémon cards though she knows way way less about how much things are ACTUALLY worth.

I add up our spending, it’s close to $700 from just a month and a half.

Since then, every time she gets Pokémon cards, she’s excited to give them to me, but I react critically because I know we’re probably down $1000 from her spending choices.

Hobbies aren’t fun anymore once they’re causing real anxiety.

I’ve asked her to stop numerous times, citing how its reminiscent of my father’s addiction, we have events we need to save for, even if it’s “just one dollar!”

400 “just-one-dollars” is ultimately $400 etc.

I’ve asked her to stop talking about Pokemon with me, as her financial choices have caused me to entirely reject what was once my own hobby.

That’s another unfortunate consequence of all of this.

She’s very upset with me, saying that I’m critical, that I seem to think she’s stupid, and that I’m overdramatic.

But simultaneously she’s acknowledged that these habits are reminiscent of my father and she “sees where I’m coming from”.

She has promised to stop numerous times but every few weeks she returns with more.

This is really devolving into something sinister.

Most recently she’s said: “I’ll sell them!” though she doesn’t understand what the cards are worth in the current market.

So, AITA for telling my mom she’s addicted to Pokémon cards and needs to stop?

Or am I just going crazy because of my father’s past choices?

This is a classic case of two things being true at the same time. Let’s see how the Reddit community weighed in on this one.

The comments section was surprisingly empathetic.

And helped frame the situation in a helpful way.

A few tried offering practical advice.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a friend who is upset they missed out on cheap festival passes due to her pal’s indecision.

Some were particularly soft on the mother.

But one common opinion was shared.

She should NOT be trying to catch ’em all here.