Halloween is paradise for kids, and honestly, I haven’t met a single little person who doesn’t like this candy festival. Obviously, it is incomplete without trick-or-treating, and nobody would want to stop the children from enjoying the most fun part of the festival, right?
Wrong! This woman tried to ban her boyfriend’s kids from it as punishment for “being messy.” Their mom was absolutely horrified when she heard about it, felt that it was completely unfair, and just refused to listen to her. Read on to find out all the drama that followed after that!
More info: Reddit
Some stepparents overstep their boundaries with kids and forget that they are not their real parents
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster's kids returned from her ex, and his girlfriend said that they were punishing the children by banning them from trick-or-treating
Image credits: anon
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
However, the poster refused to accept this ban, as the woman wouldn't tell her the reason for this cruel punishment, and instead went and whined to her boyfriend
Image credits: anon
Image credits: shurkin_son / Freepik (not the actual photo)
She soon found out that the kids had acted all messy by wiping the pumpkin gunk on the sofa, but the punishment was unfair to her
Image credits: anon
The poster refused to listen to the couple, so her ex lashed out against her by claiming that she was undermining them
In today’s story, the original poster (OP) tells us how her ex’s girlfriend tried to crush the Halloween spirit for her and her kids. The 5-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl had gone to their dad’s house, and his partner of 7 months came to drop them off. Surprisingly, she told the poster that she had banned the kids from trick-or-treating, and OP should follow it to show a “united front.”
The kids were bawling their eyes out, so the shocked poster asked her the reason why she gave out such a harsh punishment. The thing is, the boy has a horribly short attention span; meanwhile, the other kid gets hyper-fixated on anything. Well, OP thought that whatever it was could be because of all this, but the woman refused to tell her the reason.
That's why the poster also put her foot down and said she wouldn’t follow this cruel ban. The woman went and told her boyfriend about it, and he lashed out against OP. Apparently, he expected her to ground the kids if they said so, but the poster was appalled when she found out the reason. The kids had acted all messy, played with the pumpkin gunk, and wiped their hands on the sofa.
Isn’t that how ALL kids act at times? Of course, OP found the reason ridiculous and completely unfair for the punishment. After she vented online, folks were equally baffled, and many said that she would be the jerk if she didn’t take them trick-or-treating. Well, the poster updated that she definitely planned to take them, as she was against this unreasonable ban.
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
It’s shocking that the woman has only been dating the poster’s ex for 7 months, despite which, she is acting like an authority figure in the kids’ lives. Experts flag this as a big “NO-NO,” as it poses a threat to the little ones’ bond with the stepparent. They are likely to resist this type of “authoritarian parenting style” once they get older.
Moreover, everyone in the comments agreed that the couple’s actions were truly unfair. Research has revealed that parents who frequently exercise harsh discipline with young children are putting them at significantly greater risk of developing lasting mental health problems. I truly hope it’s not something that happens frequently with the poster's children.
A few netizens warned her to be cautious about what happens when the kids are with their dad. It’s honestly heartbreaking to think that a parent would crush their kids’ hearts over something so trivial in such a way. A lot of people said that nobody in their right mind would ground a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old, who don’t even understand the concept of this punishment.
A reasonable one would be to not let the kids watch TV immediately after they acted all messy, but delaying it just sounded cruel. It’s a good thing that at least one adult in the story is sensible. I truly hope the kids had an absolute bash after OP took them trick-or-treating, as she said she would.
Well, dear readers, do you agree with the Redditors’ verdict? Also, if you were in the poster’s shoes, what would you do? Let us know in the comments!
Netizens were aghast that someone would ground such young kids for acting like kids and didn't shy away from calling the couple names
