He Bought Two Lego Sets for His Little Brother — His Parents Gave One to His Cousin Instead, Then Called Him Selfish
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When you buy something for a specific purpose, it is yours to do what you want with it, even if your parents think you should do something else.
What would you do if you bought two Lego sets for your little brother, but before you could give them to him, they gave one to your cousin even though you specifically said that you got them only for your brother?
That is what happened to the big brother in this story, and now he is really upset about it, but his parents are saying that he is being selfish.
Personally, I think his parents are way out of line. They should buy another set to replace it. Read through the full story below and see if you agree.
AITA for being upset that my parents gave away a LEGO set I bought for my younger brother without my permission?
I’m 20 years old and was studying abroad in Arizona as part of a double-degree program.
This was very nice of him.
When I came home, I wanted to surprise my younger brother, who was six at the time, with gifts. I bought two LEGO sets from Amazon with my own money, costing around $40–50 total. I bought both specifically for my brother.
My dad immediately suggested giving one of them to my relative’s son instead. I told my parents clearly that I didn’t want to do that and wanted both sets to go to my brother. They knew this.
Wow, this is incredibly rude and disrespectful.
While I was away studying at my university in another city, my relatives visited our house. My parents gave one of the LEGO sets to my relative’s son, apparently as a gift from me, despite knowing I didn’t want to give it away.
I found out when I came home for a holiday sometime between January and March 2026. When I asked why they gave it away, my dad basically said, “It would be embarrassing if we didn’t give him anything.”
You aren’t obligated to repay generosity.
My parents felt that because this relative had been generous to me in the past, I should have given something to her son.
For context, this relative gave me a brand-new iPhone worth around $1,000 when I graduated high school in 2022.
His Aunt is very kind, but that is not the point.
She bought it for me on a 24-month installment plan. I had already gotten a phone of my own earlier that year, so I didn’t really need another one and had never asked her for it.
I appreciated the gesture and thanked her, but eventually gave the iPhone to my younger brother because I didn’t need it.
Maybe his parents are right, but that still doesn’t mean they can go against his wishes like this.
She also gave me around $100 when I left to study in the US, and I appreciated that as well.
My parents’ argument is that this relative has done a lot for me, so I should “give something back” by being generous to her son.
This is exactly right.
They think I am selfish and ungrateful for refusing and have even told me I should be ashamed of myself.
I understand that my relative has been very generous toward me, and I am genuinely grateful. However, I bought the LEGO sets with my own money specifically for my brother.
Being upset is completely reasonable.
I don’t feel that receiving gifts means I automatically owe someone a gift in return, especially when I had already made it clear what I intended to do with my own purchase.
Even if my parents had asked me again, I still would have said no. I wanted both sets to go to my brother.
No, not at all.
Am I wrong for being upset that my parents gave away the LEGO set despite me explicitly telling them I didn’t want to give it to anyone except my brother?
AITA?
The Legos were his to give how he wanted, and his parents were out of line for going against his wishes. Recommending that he give them to his cousin is one thing, but doing it behind his back was highly inappropriate.
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Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about it.
This commenter says that his parents are thieves.
His parents are basically stealing.
This commenter thinks his parents should buy a new set to replace it.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a brother who doesn’t want to help his sister cover their aging father’s groceries.
His parents should pay him for the Lego set.
He should have given his brother the Legos right away.
His parents were beyond out of line, and they owe him an apology (and a Lego set). Even if he was being selfish (he wasn’t), that still doesn’t give them the right to do this.
How they think that they did the right thing is beyond me.
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