" My husband wonder if we should ’ve just encouraged Cameron to give it away . Am I the a**hole for say no ? "
I know not everyone feels this way, but it’s a parent’s job to teach their kids toappropriatelymanage theiremotionswhen things don’t go their way. Pressuring others to bend over backward to take away your child’s disappointment is only setting them up for failure.
That couldn’t be clearer with this wild story concerning userButterscotchNaive801, who stood her ground after being pressured to make her child share with another kid who threw a tantrum.
In apostto the Am I the asshole subreddit, she explained:
" I have two sons : Robbie ( 16 ) and Cameron ( 8) . Robbie had an awards spread for his squad , and the entire family went . Every year , they have a raffle with a bunch of prizes . I buy a roll of tickets for both sons and narrate them to put in for whatever . Cameron had two thing he really want : a LEGO outfit and a remote control gondola . He put basically all his ticket in for those . "
“There was another boy there, probably a little younger than Cameron, who was running around and saying he was going to win the remote control car. Everyone would just smile and say, ‘We’ll see!'”
" Come time for the raffle ; Cameron won the LEGO kit . A few draws later , and he also wins the remote control car . "
“When the other little boy’s parents explained to their son he didn’t win, he broke down in a huge tantrum where he was screaming and crying. His dad had to carry him out because he was causing a disturbance.”
" We were sitting with two other families at our table , and one told Cameron he should give the car to the little boy . Cameron tell , ' No . ' They attend at me for relief , and I said , ' It ’s his pick . ' "
“I changed the subject. The little boy did return. He came by our table a couple of times but didn’t say anything. Just stared at the car, which I felt was fine.”
" Later , a supporter of mine said a few others feel Cameron should ’ve given the little son the car as he had already gain something . "
“I said, “This is just how raffles work, and it’s a good lesson for kids.'”
" There are time my sons have n’t won thing from raffles or similar event . They teach young it ’s all up to luck . "
“Keep in mind, I never heard from the parents of this child. I know the mom in passing as our older sons have hung out a couple of times, but not that well. My husband wonders if we should’ve just encouraged Cameron to give it away. Am I the asshole for saying no?”
The nerve of those parents who tried to make Cameron share the prizeshewon!
Well, as you may expect, people had some strong opinions on this situation. “Not the asshole,“user StAlviawrote. “Frankly, I would have told off those families for having the audacity to tell a child what he should do with his own possessions.”
Agreeing,user RebeccaMCullenwrote: “If those families want that little boy to have a remote control car, they can pony up the money and give it to the child’s parents to buy him one.”
“It’s not about the car (in my opinion at least). It’s about good parenting. If a child learns that tantrums get him what he wants, that is a bad thing both for the child in his later life and for his parents. Instead, not winning gives him an opportunity to handle disappointment,“user daquo0wrote.
“I think it was extremely inappropriate for that other adult to directly ask your son to do that. It’s not okay to put a kid on the spot like that, especially when they can see that his parents are there and not prompting him to give the toy away. A definite overstep,“user Snoopets8873pointed out.
