I(15M)bought a new Nintendo switch. A week ago my brother(23M)and his gf(23F)stopped by to let their kid(4M)play since he has a lot of toys here. I was taking a shower when they got here so I didn’t know they were here. My switch was on the livingroom couch charging.
Now for context their son has really bad behavior problems. He flips out over everything and will scream and cry for hours. He also loves to break things for no reason. So overall a bad kid.
from what my brother told me the kid had picked it up and one of his parents (not sure who) was trying to take it from him since he’s rough with stuff and they didn’t want him to break it. This set off the kid so he started screaming and crying. I heard this part while I was in the shower but I didn’t think anything of it since he’s always throwing tantrums. I figured my switch would be safe cus it’s my apartment and I should be able to leave stuff out without fear of it getting broken.
So after I got out of the shower I walked into the living room and my brother has my switch next to him. Said switch has the screen all cracked and one of the joycons disconnected. obviously I’m pissed and I ask what happened. Apparently the kid got mad that they wouldn’t let him have it so he grabbed it and ran into the kitchen and threw it down and started stomping on it. Which is pretty on brand because he does the same thing with phones or other electronics when he can’t have them. This kid is really heavy but I didn’t think heavy enough to the point the screen on my switch wouldn’t work anymore. And I’m not sure what happened to the joycon but it won’t slide on all the way I think something got bent?
I grabbed my switch and went to my room to text my mom because she was at work. So my mom calls me a while later on one of her breaks and is flipping out about it. As she should because that was 300$ of my own money. So she hangs up and calls my brother and is flipping out on him about it. I was still in my room so idk what exactly she said. They ended up leaving with their kid.
Then my mom came home and suddenly her attitude has completely switched. She’s telling me that she’ll buy me a new one when she gets the money and how the kid didn’t mean it and he didn’t know. And I’m still pissed so I ask her why my brother or his gf can’t replace it and she makes excuses about how my brother doesn’t work and he doesn’t have alot of money. THE REASON HE DOESNT HAVE MONEY IS CUS HES A BUM AND WONT GET A JOB AND SELLS WEED. His girlfriend works at a fucking taco truck so obviously between the two of them they can barely afford their expenses. They’re constantly asking my mom for money to cover the bills.
now we’re at a standstill. My mom is making excuses for why my brother or his gf can’t buy me a new one. They could easily buy me a new one if my brother stopped being a bum and got a job.
Ik I’m not in the wrong but I wanna see Reddit flame my family.
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I(15M)bought a new Nintendo switch. A week ago my brother(23M)and his gf(23F)stopped by to let their kid(4M)play since he has a lot of toys here. I was taking a shower when they got here so I didn’t know they were here. My switch was on the livingroom couch charging.
Now for context their son has really bad behavior problems. He flips out over everything and will scream and cry for hours. He also loves to break things for no reason. So overall a bad kid.
from what my brother told me the kid had picked it up and one of his parents (not sure who) was trying to take it from him since he’s rough with stuff and they didn’t want him to break it. This set off the kid so he started screaming and crying. I heard this part while I was in the shower but I didn’t think anything of it since he’s always throwing tantrums. I figured my switch would be safe cus it’s my apartment and I should be able to leave stuff out without fear of it getting broken.
So after I got out of the shower I walked into the living room and my brother has my switch next to him. Said switch has the screen all cracked and one of the joycons disconnected. obviously I’m pissed and I ask what happened. Apparently the kid got mad that they wouldn’t let him have it so he grabbed it and ran into the kitchen and threw it down and started stomping on it. Which is pretty on brand because he does the same thing with phones or other electronics when he can’t have them. This kid is really heavy but I didn’t think heavy enough to the point the screen on my switch wouldn’t work anymore. And I’m not sure what happened to the joycon but it won’t slide on all the way I think something got bent?
I grabbed my switch and went to my room to text my mom because she was at work. So my mom calls me a while later on one of her breaks and is flipping out about it. As she should because that was 300$ of my own money. So she hangs up and calls my brother and is flipping out on him about it. I was still in my room so idk what exactly she said. They ended up leaving with their kid.
Then my mom came home and suddenly her attitude has completely switched. She’s telling me that she’ll buy me a new one when she gets the money and how the kid didn’t mean it and he didn’t know. And I’m still pissed so I ask her why my brother or his gf can’t replace it and she makes excuses about how my brother doesn’t work and he doesn’t have alot of money. THE REASON HE DOESNT HAVE MONEY IS CUS HES A BUM AND WONT GET A JOB AND SELLS WEED. His girlfriend works at a fucking taco truck so obviously between the two of them they can barely afford their expenses. They’re constantly asking my mom for money to cover the bills.
now we’re at a standstill. My mom is making excuses for why my brother or his gf can’t buy me a new one. They could easily buy me a new one if my brother stopped being a bum and got a job.
Ik I’m not in the wrong but I wanna see Reddit flame my family.
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I want my brother or his girlfriend to buy me a new Nintendo switch but he would have to get a job to do that. 300$ would be alot of money out of their pocket when they can barely afford to live right now. So maybe I’m being harsh because I don’t have the best relationship with either of them.
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. Yes, you deserve to be made whole, but if the money isn’t there right now it’s just not. Nobody is gonna let their kid go hungry or skip a rent payment to buy you a new switch, even if you deserve a new one right away. Which, to be clear, you do… but sometimes what you deserve doesn’t really matter. You deserve a new one ASAP, but if they don’t have the money they don’t have the money.
>They could easily buy me a new one if my brother stopped being a bum and got a job.
OK but… that’s not gonna happen overnight. It’s just not. You need to be realistic. Your mom is gonna try and make you whole as soon as she can, and while that’s not right, it’s almost certainly the only way you’re gonna get your switch replaced. Getting on her case about how your brother should do it is just making her life harder, and it won’t get you your switch any sooner.
Cut your mom some slack here, dude.
I mean NTA but this seems more like its about you wanting your brother and nephew to finally be held accountable than anything else. Your mom is replacing it on their behalf so at least theres that.
NTA. That’s their kid and they should take responsibility for the damage he’s done. If they don’t want to replace it, just don’t invite them over anymore. Plain and simple.
This is a pretty obvious no brainer NTA. I don’t know how much that matters, but obviously this kinda kills the relationship with your brother and his kid. e.g. there should be no watching/babysitting, there will be no sharing of anything you own with him, basically kinda shuts down everything.
They’re adults, and they’re responsible for the kids. They need to buy you a new Switch.
NTA and this is the kind of stuff that destroys family relationships. Without consequences, the kid and your brother will always get away with their BS and your mom will always find ways to excuse their BS behavior. Until you are able to to leave that house, you are always going to be told to deal with it, he is just 4. Or deal with it, they have a young difficult child at home. Or deal with it, he doesn’t have a job. Or deal with it bc….
I hate this type of stuff. Victim is always brushed aside and lose out. No consequences to the actual bad actor. No consequences for the parents. No one will ever learn anything.
You are owed a new Switch.
If your mom decides to pay for it you can be pissed off but you have been compensated appropriately.
Nta. If your kid breaks something that belongs to someone else… you replace it. It was your fault for not watching them.
if your brother is a jobless bum with a kid, he will never not be a bum
Obviously NTA, and they definitely should replace your Switch right away (and should have been supervising their child well enough to prevent him grabbing it in the first place), but he’s not a “bad kid” – he is likely autistic/having meltdowns and no one is getting educated on how to parent him better.
NTA
Your brother and his partner owe you a new Switch. Absolutely no two ways about it.
I don’t care how rich or poor they are, or what they do for a living. They owe you a new one.
When your child damages or destroys another person’s property through bad behaviour, you pay for it. You don’t argue, you apologise and pay up. And yes, you replace new for old.
The fact that this was paid for with your own money at the age of 15 makes this even more egregious.
There is some bad parenting going on all round here. Your brother is failing to take responsibility for his undisciplined child. Your mother is failing in her responsibility to stand up for you in a situation that is clearly very unfair on you.
NTA but since your mother already enables your brother’s laziness it’s no surprise that she’s making it seem like this is no big deal now.
NTA! Most people want these things corrected even when accidents happen. Also your brother definitely needs to learn some discipline since he let his kid break your $300 piece of property. He does not sound like a great parent.
Obviously your brother should be responsible and pay for ANY damages his child causes. But your brother and his wife are not capable of even monitoring their child much less teaching him to respect property or not allowing him around property until he can do better. And your mom apparently wants to support your brother indefinitely since she is enabling him. So. Now you know that in your own home you must keep your valuables locked up in YOUR room so that your nephew cannot gain access to them. This is an inconvenience but since the 3 adults are not actually adulting, that is how you can protect your assets. Get a job, start saving money now, and when you graduate you will be able to get your own place where I would NOT welcome your nephew to visit.
Tell your mom that you can’t wait to knock a girl up and have her help support you and your kid. But otherwise leave her alone over the switch. If she is going to pay for it, tell her thank you.
NTA but know this: your mom will ALWAYS take the side of the worthless bum of a son and the equally worthless gf and their kid, who clearly needs counseling. Consider this a $300 lesson to NEVER leave anything unlocked, even for a minute. Buy yourself a trunk and get a good keyed (not combination) lock. Put all of your stuff that you value—clothing, games, electronics, anything sentimental—and keep it under your bed. Then, get tf out of that house as soon as you possibly can. Know this: you will never see any improvement, not from your brother, his gf, the kid or even your mom. These dysfunctional relationships are set in stone, I’m afraid. Your role in this is also set in stone to be the fixer, to suck it up and deal with it. You’ve got to break the cycle.
Take the brothers weed money and buy a new one, family will pay the drug debt quickly to get more drugs i bet. You shouldn’t have to hide your own stuff in your flat for their entitled kid to come and wreck it because it’s not theirs to touch. Imagine saving your own money to buy something you really wanted and along comes some brat and wrecks it in minutes and now you did all that saving for fuck all, i would be fuming
Nta
Call the cops. Make a report about damaged property. Just because your mom’s a doormat and doesn’t mean you have to follow in her footsteps. Tell her to never let them in the house or you will go no contact with her the minute you turn 18. Get a job. Save your money. Move when your 18.
NTA but unfortunately if your mom wants to bail your brother out, it’s (mostly) none of your business. You can recognize the poor parenting at play (two generations of it, actually) but while you can remove yourself from these situations as often as possible, you can’t step in and parent your older brother or someone else’s kid. What is your business is that someone must replace your switch.
“When she gets the money” is the part that has me a concerned—are we talking in a week? Months? Unlikely to ever see the money? Would it be possible for you to “request” repayment by a deadline? (I realize this sounds insensitive as a switch is not a “need” and it doesn’t sound like your mom is swimming in money, but I also do think this is the consequence of everyone else’s actions—brother won’t parent his kid or protect property from him, mother won’t let brother face consequences and literally pays to make the problems go away. If people cannot afford to replace broken things, they need to start preventing situations where they have to. Not forcing your family to take accountability will give them the green light that it’s okay to destroy your stuff.)
Unfortunately it sounds like until you are able to move out, you’ll need to start hiding and locking up everything valuable since there are virtually no consequences for breaking your things and there’s no guarantee of replacement.
NTA but you have to get even. Find that little brats favorite toy or your brother prize possession and do what must be done. An eye for an eye.
NTA, but…
Just let your mom buy a new one. Yes, your brother should do it, but that’s likely not going to happen. Your mom is trying to make sure you aren’t completely wronged here.