She first starts her story by saying that her husband’s family is angry with her, and she feels like she is being gaslighted by them. She and her husband are in their 20s with no children. They added her mother-in-law to their cell phone plan a few years ago when they got married because she lived alone and didn’t have a cell phone. Her husband felt it would keep his mother safe to have one for emergencies.
The phone plan was around $20 extra per month when they first added her. Since then, costs have increased, and she also purchased a nicer phone, so it’s closer to $50 per month. She finds it is pricy but hasn’t said anything.
Her husband’s brother has an 8-year-old boy. She says he’s a nice kid but not her responsibility. When she called her mother-in-law’s cell phone one day, the nephew answered. She assumed he was at his Grandmother’s house, so she asked him if she could talk to her. He said he wasn’t at Grandma’s house and that she had given him her cell phone to keep because his parents wouldn’t get him one.
Her mother-in-law didn’t tell her or her husband that she had given the grandson her cell phone that they were paying for. She became angry as she already hated that they had to pay for it. On top of that, it’s an 8-year-old using it, not even the intended person. So she went to her mother-in-law’s house and told her that if she didn’t use the phone, she would take her off the plan. She also wants the iPhone back from the nephew because her husband’s screen is cracked, so he can have it instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a new one.
Now her mother-in-law is mad at her because she says, “it’s her phone to do with as she pleases, and she wants her grandson to have it.” She told her mother-in-law that it was not her phone and they would discontinue paying for it if she wasn’t the person using it. She told her husband she was canceling the plan for it and then did it. She also told him if his mother wanted a cell phone again, she could sign up and get her own plan.
Her husband is angry she canceled the plan, and so is her mother-in-law. It doesn’t end there, the nephew and his parents are also angry. However, they returned the phone because it no longer works since the plan was canceled.
She is reaching out to the online community to ask if she was wrong and should have just kept paying for the cell phone.
Many readers responded in support. Several people couldn’t believe the child’s parents were angry at her and had no right. But if they didn’t get him a phone only because of the cost, then, of course, they were upset.
“Wait, the parents who wouldn’t let their eight-year-old have a phone are mad? Shouldn’t they be angry that your MIL went over their heads, or is your nephew not getting a phone for financial reasons?”
“Maybe they just didn’t want to pay for a phone but are happy to have someone else pay for it.”
Several readers also said it was inappropriate for an 8-year-old to have a cell phone at all.
“I have the same rules for my ten-year-old because she’s very rarely without an adult. No need for a cell. And if someone else circumvented my decision and got my kid not just a phone but an iPhone with unmonitored access to the internet and all kinds of social media, I’d be livid. Also, a cell phone isn’t like other gifts – you don’t get to pass it on because “it’s yours, and you can do what you want.” Someone is paying a monthly service for that individual to access the phone. I would be livid and have done the same as OP in this situation. I’m not financing my nephew’s cell without my knowledge. Grandma WAY overstepped in a lot of places – if she didn’t want the phone, return it.”
Some also mentioned that the cell phone doesn’t even sound like its been paid off yet.
“Is the phone even paid off yet? From the way OP mentioned the plan had gone up partly because of Grandma getting a nicer phone, it sounded like the phone is still being paid off as part of the plan. So no, Grandma, it isn’t your phone. It isn’t even paid for, and you are not the one paying for it!”
What do you think? Should she be the target of everybody’s anger because she doesn’t want to pay for a cell phone the intended person isn’t using? Should she continue paying for it?
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