Internet Backs Girl Who Called Her Parents Thieves for Stealing Her Birthday Savings

A teen who wanted to celebrate her 16th birthday had been saving her money for a party. However, as she explained on Reddit, the money disappeared and she later learned that her parents took the money and used it to purchase sneakers for her sister.

In her post, published under the "Am I the A**hole" Subreddit with more than 12,000 votes and more than 2,000 comments, Deerzy1986 wrote that she typically doesn't celebrate her birthday because her family is unable to afford it. She decided to save the money that she earned during her summer job and hid it away for her birthday.

"Yesterday I discovered that mom searched my room and took the $120 I saved and hid under my bed like she always does," the teen wrote.

After calling her, Deerzy1986 wrote that her mother told her that she was keeping the money safe and they would talk after she and the Redditor's father and sister got home. When they returned home, the Redditor wrote that her parents used the money to buy her sister, who has autism, new sneakers.

"My dad said my sister saw, liked and wanted the sneakers but they didn't have money to buy it and stop her from having a meltdown in the middle of the store and refusing to leave the store without them," she wrote.

She continued and wrote that her father said he would pay her back the next month, but Deerzy1986 wrote her birthday was the following week.

"He has a short temper and I obviously pushed him to his limit when I said no and kept asking him to return the sneakers," she wrote. "I lost it and said that they are both thieves and I hate them for stealing my money and ruining yet another birthday for me."

Deerzy1986 wrote that her father began yelling at her and said she was not going to have a birthday party, and her mother seemed to back him up on his decision.

"I'm grounded now for calling them that," she wrote. "I didn't get my money back but did get called an overprivileged spoiled brat for having little to no consideration for my sister's struggle and acting so selfishly and throwing a 3yo tantrum over a party that they are no longer allowing me to have because I called them thieves."

Commenters overwhelmingly sided with the teenager.

"They are thieves, and you worked for that money so they can't call you spoiled," one commenter wrote. "If anything you're being neglected if they can't scrump together for a cake each year to celebrate."

Others commented on the Redditor's family's financial situation and asked what would have happened if the family didn't have the money for the sneakers while they were out shopping.

"What will they do the next time they're all out and the sister sees something she wants and they don't have the money with them this time?" a Redditor asked.

Another was skeptical about the purchase and suggested that it wasn't made on a whim.

"If the mother was keeping the money safe she wouldn't have carried it," the commenter wrote. "She searched it out and they took it with the express intent to spend it."

One Reddit user wrote that it was likely that her parents may have tried to manage a "difficult situation," but disregarded their other child. They encouraged her to speak with her mother about the impact that decision made and how it will affect her relationship with the rest of the family.

"Because damage happened," they wrote. "My guess is that this is not the first time. Unless the dynamics are closely examined here, this is a sad path."

A Redditor who wrote that he is the father of a child with "special needs" said, "while having a special needs child is expensive, it should never take away from the other children."

To offer support and advice, another commenter wrote that Deerzy1986 should consider several different hiding spots for her money and to move it around. They also wrote that she should start thinking ahead on ways she can plan to move into her own space.

"Be the captain of your own ship, make your own happiness, and you will ultimately have control of your own life," they wrote.