A father recognizing that his child is spoiled and entitled is reaching out to the Reddit community for advice. In a hilarious start to his story, he begins with the words’ first world problems alert.’ His daughter is learning to drive with his truck, a 2010 Nissan Titan, while she has a driving permit. He planned to give it to her for her birthday and purchase a new Silverado for himself. He says he takes excellent care of his vehicle, both cosmetic and mechanical, and it practically looks brand new. He also had it professionally detailed inside and out before gifting it to her for her birthday.
On her birthday, the father took his daughter to the DMV to take her road test and earn her full license. After she passed, he excitedly pulled out the title to the Nissan Titan and said happy birthday while they were in the DMV. However, instead of being appreciative, she made an embarrassing scene by yelling, “Omg, I’m not driving a grandpa truck, Dad!” He was angry not only because he was only 39 years old, so it was an insulting comment. But she also had a tantrum because she wanted a blue Jeep Wrangler instead.
After they left the office, he told his daughter how rude her behavior was when he gave her a truck that any 16-year-old would be extremely grateful for. Eventually, she apologized, however, there was another incident. She was angry again when he told her she couldn’t access the truck fully until he purchased another one, which was already happening. He was just waiting for the bank to approve his loan.
After experiencing her ungrateful behavior again, he told her to forget about getting the truck. He told her she was acting like a spoiled brat. Later that night, she began asking him more questions about the truck. “So since you were gonna sign it over to me, does that mean I could drive it for a bit, sell it and then put the money towards a Wrangler?”
He responded that she could have done whatever she wanted with it after he signed the vehicle over to her. She replied, “Oh. Ok, well, I’ve thought about it, and I would like to have it.” But he quickly reminded her that the truck wasn’t hers anymore. After he told her that she had lost her opportunity of owning the truck, she became angry and said he should have told her at the DMV that she could sell it and keep the money.
She complained to her mother that he was being unfair, but her mother agreed that she didn’t deserve the truck. The father says that his daughter asked nicely for the truck again the next day. Instead of responding, he went into his office and printed out a McDonald’s employment application. He put it in an envelope and handed it to her.
She was excited because she thought it was the title of the truck. When she opened it and saw what it was, she yelled, “you suck!” He told her, if you want a Wrangler, get a job. His wife called him an idiot and said he took it too far. He thinks maybe he did, but he feels their child needs to learn the value of a dollar and how to be grateful. He didn’t like that she was unhappy on her birthday but didn’t anticipate her behavior. He found it very upsetting. But did he go too far by handing her the job application?
One reader commented that her ingratitude is a result of poor parenting.
“You are clueless though and need to parent better. There is no way she turned 16 and gained this attitude. She has been like this for awhile with others and you thought it was “cute”. Now it has come back to bite your butt and so you are trying to teach her a lesson.”
However, several readers responded that this was an unfair comment. Children have different personalities and react differently to situations that don’t necessarily result from poor parenting.
Not every bratty teen is the result of bad parenting. I raised my kids exactly the same, and one was bratty and 2 werent. It took a while for the one with attitude to grow out of it. Parents don’t have control over personality. 2 were grateful for the used cars we bought for them, and nothing was good enough for the other one.”
“Nature, nurture, environment. People without kids, teens, or even a problem child are too quick to blame a parent. You can’t control everything.”
Some readers provided some practical advice.
“OP, stand your ground, but leave a door opened just a crack for her to earn the truck back. Maybe sit her down and apologize for being a bit of a jerk about it, because while handing her the application was well earned, it was kinda mean, but the point stands. Maybe make an offer to her that she can drive it to work, and if she takes care of it and earns enough for the combination of her earnings and the sale of the truck to buy what she wants, you’ll help her in that way. It still gets the point across that her behavior was unacceptable, but opens up a path for you to both get what you want.”
One reader thinks he should not have given his daughter the truck outright.
When our kids started driving, my husband bought a new car and we had the old one cleaned up and offered it to them for their primary use. We did NOT give it to them. It’s still my husband’s car (well, mine, actually). They pay for the gas and insurance, we pay for the upkeep and the taxes. They share it. And they were beyond grateful and excited. But we’ve taught them to appreciate it when someone does something kind for them and to understand the value of things.”
What do you think? Should he have just given her driving privileges instead of giving her the truck? Should he give her the truck now or stand his ground and refuse? Was he wrong to give her the McDonald’s job application?
This article was produced by This Mom is On Fire.
This post originally appeared on Reddit.
Feature image credit: © vadimguzhva fro Getty Images via canva.com