A woman has divided opinions after revealing the method she used to get her younger sister to do household chores.
On March 5, the 21-year-old penned a post on Reddit’s “Am I the A——” forum, explaining that she lives with two kids in the same town as her mom and 11-year-old sister. She described her sibling as “very manipulative” and always “blaming” their mom for things.
“Recently, she screamed at Mom for not washing her school uniform, despite having a pile of clean clothes (including her uniform) in her room for over a week,” the woman said. “She also trashed her room—dirty underwear, clutter, food packets, moldy dishes, no sheets on her bed, and no clear path through the mess.
“She takes food upstairs despite not being allowed and refuses to clean, even when Mom helps,” the Redditor continued. “She even yells when Mom tries to clean it for her, insisting, ‘I like it like that.’ ”
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The woman said her mom became “desperate” for a solution after trying different methods to convince her younger sister to do chores.
Eventually, they agreed on swapping houses for the day in an attempt to see if she could get through to her sister.
“With Mom’s full permission, I went full ‘mean girl,’ ” the Redditor said. “I took my sister’s TV, phone, tablet and laptop and told her, ‘If you’re gonna live like a wild dog, might as well put you in a cage. Mom gives you everything, and this is how you repay her? Your 4-year-old nephew keeps his room cleaner than this. Maybe we should send a picture to your school friends.’ ”
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The woman said her sister “huffed, puffed, stomped, cried,” before submitting to clean her room. She claimed their mom was almost in tears as she thanked her for getting her sister to do chores when she returned home.
“My sister now hates me, but if it makes Mom’s life easier, I can live with that,” the woman said.
“Most of our family understood why I did it, but my grandmother and aunt are mad, saying I should be the “cool older sister” she looks up to, not the one who breaks her down. But as a parent myself, I feel for Mom more than I do for my sister.” Asking for opinions, she added, “AITA? [am I the a——?]”
Responses to the post were mixed with several commenters reassuring her that her sister was acting like a “total brat” and needed to be corrected.
“A ‘cool older sister’ shows the younger one how to be a ‘cool’ person,” one person said. “Nothing ‘cool’ about being a disrespectful brat. Teach her actions have consequences now before she’s a grown ass that no one wants to hang around with, she’ll thank you later.”
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Another commenter wrote, “Your mother tried it nicely and she wouldn’t budge. It’s about time she learns some discipline.”
However, others accused the woman of being “verbally abusive” with her method and argued it wouldn’t be a long-term solution to the problem.
“Yta [you’re the a——] and so is your mom,” one person said. “You are not her parent. Also probably a pretty s— person if the only way you can get a kid to do something is by bullying them. Take their stuff sure, that’s a consequence to (in)action. But your comments were just cruel. Feels like you hate your sister and are disguising as love for your mom.”
Credit: dotdashmeredith.com
