We all know the type of kid who simply cannot handle being told “no.” Usually, it manifests in a temper tantrum at the toy store, but one thirteen-year-old on Reddit just took sibling rivalry to a truly dark and expensive level. Imagine being a sixteen-year-old who has spent over a decade carefully curating a library of limited and special edition books, only to have your younger cousin turn them into confetti because she was mad she couldn’t borrow them. If you’re a book lover, prepare to have your heart break into a million tiny pieces.
The Original Poster (OP) is a 42-year-old mom whose daughter, Brooke, is a certified bookworm. Brooke has been reading since she was five and spends every cent of her allowance on her collection. She recently saved up for a brand-new special edition release that she was incredibly proud of. But on a random Saturday, the OP’s sister, Lindsey, brought her 13-year-old daughter, Mariah, over for a visit. Knowing Mariah has a weird obsession with Brooke’s room, the OP explicitly told her to stay downstairs.
Of course, we wouldn’t have a story if Mariah actually listened to adults. Under the guise of needing the bathroom, Mariah sneaked upstairs and gained access to Brooke’s sanctuary. When Brooke arrived home minutes later and walked into her room, the scene was pure carnage. Pages were ripped out, spines were destroyed, and Brooke’s prized special editions were essentially k!lled. The level of premeditated destruction is enough to make any parent’s jaw drop, and Brooke was understandably left in literal tears over the loss.
When the OP stepped in to demand an apology and financial reimbursement for the ruined property, the sisterhood officially imploded. Lindsey had the audacity to claim that her thirteen-year-old was “just a kid” and “didn’t know what she was doing.” Let’s get real: at thirteen, you know exactly what you are doing when you spend ten minutes systematically shredding someone else’s property. This wasn’t an accidental spill; it was a targeted hit.
The logic only got worse from there. Lindsey actually tried to blame Brooke, saying that if she didn’t want her books touched, they “shouldn’t have been out.” Excuse me? Since when is a bookshelf inside a private bedroom considered “out”? The OP rightly pointed out that Mariah was never given permission to be in that room in the first place. When Lindsey refused to pay and called her sister a greedy b!tch, she effectively chose her daughter’s bad behavior over her relationship with her own sister.
It turns out there is a very petty reason behind Mariah’s sudden “interest” in book shredding. According to an update, Brooke had previously let Mariah borrow books, only for them to be returned in sh!t condition. When Brooke set a healthy boundary and said “no more,” Mariah threw a fit. This wasn’t a “childish mistake”; it was a calculated act of revenge because a thirteen-year-old couldn’t handle being told she couldn’t wreck other people’s stuff for free.
The OP’s husband is firmly on her side, but the rest of the family is pressuring them to drop it because Mariah is “just a kid.” We are calling total bullsh!t on that. Thirteen is way too old to not understand the value of property or the basics of “don’t destroy things that aren’t yours.” If Mariah is old enough to hold a grudge and plan a revenge mission, she is old enough to understand that her mother now owes her cousin several hundred dollars for special edition books that might not even be replaceable.
The idea that the OP is “too hard” on Mariah is exactly how you raise an entitled adult who thinks they can do whatever they want without consequences. If Mariah had smashed a window or keyed a car, the family wouldn’t be saying she’s “just a kid.” Books are property, and special editions are expensive investments. Brooke worked hard for those books, and her feelings matter just as much as—if not more than—the kid who chose to act like a tiny Tasmanian devil.
It is honestly heartbreaking to see a kid like Brooke, who is described as “non-controversial” and a hater of conflict, get her world rocked like this. She did everything right: she shared, she set boundaries when her things were disrespected, and she kept her prized possessions in her own room. To have her mother’s sister call her mother a b!tch over the fallout is the ultimate betrayal.
Lindsey being a “mom apologist” is the real problem here. If she had just said, “I am so sorry, let me look up the prices and I’ll pay you back,” this wouldn’t have blown up into a family war. But by defending her daughter’s maliciousness, she is essentially telling Brooke that her passions and her property are worthless. That is a sh!t way to be an aunt and an even worse way to be a sister.
So, is the OP the ahole for demanding her money back? Absolutely not. NTA. You are teaching your daughter that her boundaries matter and you are teaching your niece that you can’t go through life destroying things because you’re mad. We hope Brooke gets every single one of those special editions replaced and that Mariah spends the next year doing chores to pay her mom back for the bill.
What would you do if a relative’s kid destroyed your child’s most prized possession? Would you let it go for “family peace,” or would you be sending a Venmo request before they even left the driveway? Let us know in the comments if you think this thirteen-year-old deserves the “out of the house” ban!
This is the perfect example of why our country is in such a mess this day and time. The majority of parents are more interested in being popular with their kids, instead of
actually being parents. This 13 year old knew exactly what she was doing and why, and she also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt there would be no consequences. This is textbook how to raise a sociopath. I hope the poor bookworm gets her property replaced/paid for. I’d never allow either one of them in my home again. And to hell with what the rest of the family thought.
I’d have her charged with theft .