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Parents can sometimes overreact to problems, and then they can back themselves into a corner with a bad punishment.

What would you do if you were supposed to care for the house during the summer, but you didn’t let the dog out or keep your room clean, so your mom grabbed all your new school clothes and put them in a trash bag to throw away?

That is what happened to the girl in this story, and now she is begging her mom not to throw them away, but she isn’t sure if that is what she deserves.

To me, it seems unlikely that the mom would actually throw them away, but she shouldn’t even threaten it. Read through the full story below and see what you think.

AITA for telling my mom not to throw away my clothes as punishment?

I (15F) am on summer break. My parents (both 40) run a business together.

To be fair, taking care of the dog needs to be a priority.

Now that it’s summer, I’m expected to manage most of the house. I’m fine with doing regular chores, but if I forget to do something, she freaks out easily and gets extremely upset.

Recently, I forgot to take the dog outside because I was busy with online coursework, and he ended up peeing on the floor.

Kids are often sloppy.

My parents came home yelling. I apologized and offered to clean it up, but they refused to let me and sent me to my room.

My room isn’t the most organized, but it’s not filthy or poorly maintained. I had a box of back-to-school clothes that I had ordered a while ago and hadn’t put away yet.

Honestly, her parents should be paying for her clothes.

For context, I usually make purchases using my mom’s Apple Card that’s installed on my phone for convenience. I have plenty of birthday money, so whenever I use the card, I pay her back in cash because most of the places I shop are cashless.

She came into my room extremely upset, yelling that I was ungrateful and didn’t pull my weight around the house. She grabbed a trash bag and started stuffing my newly purchased clothes into it.

Mom is very much overreacting.

I had already paid her back the $500 I spent on those clothes because I’m transferring to a new school that doesn’t require uniforms.

She also threw various other clothing items I had lying around into the bag, saying that she bought them and I didn’t appreciate anything. I didn’t say anything back because I didn’t want to make the situation worse.

Maybe Mom is realizing that she crossed a line.

Now my clothes are sitting in trash bags by the door, waiting to be thrown away. A few minutes after she left my room, I approached her and asked her not to throw them away, but she didn’t respond.

My dad told me I was being unreasonable for asking that and said I should have been more responsible. He also insists that the clothes won’t actually be thrown away, but I’m not convinced.

What is even the point of throwing away the clothes?

My mom often feels the need to prove a point in situations like this, and after telling me she’d “show me crazy,” I genuinely believe she might go through with it.

Am I in the wrong or being irrational at all, or just a jerk?

AITA?

If Mom throws the clothes away, she will just have to buy new ones anyway, so this does seem like an empty (or at least stupid) threat.

Read through the top comments below and see what they have to say.

She really should have cared for the dog better.

This situation is not her fault. Even if her room is a mess.

Her mom is a bit unhinged.

Mom would likely just let it go.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a student who did the math and figured out he was better off skipping school than serving detention if he forgot his ID.

This commenter thinks Mom is being abusive.

This is likely an empty threat from Mom, but she shouldn’t be doing it. This young lady acknowledges that she isn’t perfect, but her shortcomings don’t justify Mom’s actions.

Even her father seems to understand that Mom isn’t going to follow through. He should step in and address the situation.