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Mom Won’t Let Ex’s Controlling GF Ruin Halloween For Her Kids, Refuses To Enforce Her “Punishment”
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
RELATED:
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
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What do you think ?
Mel in Georgia 1 month ago
Sounds like the GF has zero experience with little kids. She should have no say in major punishments. Mom and dad need to hash this out for what's appropriate for their kids and leave the GF out of it.
Binky Melnik 1 month ago (edited)
Not only that but if you wanna punish kids you’re responsible for, you don’t fob that punishment onto someone else! I’ve never been a parent, but if someone unloaded some kids onto me and told me I’m responsible for the punishment they’d made up for the kid, I’d tell ‘em to gargle my balls because if you want your kids punished, then YOU do it! I’m sure as hell not doing it, and I don’t care if it’s minor nonsense or major c**p: YOU dole out the punishment you feel is right. I will NOT be the punisher-by-proxy! Grrr! This crunt is making me so angry and I neither know these people nor will I ever meet them! 🤬 ETA: I’m struggling to understand how little kids are sposta understand that a punishment in October is because of something they did in August. When I was a kid and did something wrong, I was punished *right then and there*, presumably so that I understood that what I did was *because* of the punishment. Had my folks waited a couple month and then punished me saying “This is for what you did two months ago,” I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made the connection between my misbehavior and the punishment. This lady seems not to understand how and WHY to punish kids (nor who does the punishing, obviously).
Load More Replies...
FreeTheUnicorn 1 month ago
Part of being a united front is discussing big consequences before they are handed down.
Anne Edwards 4 weeks ago
You don't need to be a united front with anyone but the child's parent. If it were me, idbe getting legal advice and arranging a proper parenting pla that makes it very clear who makes decisions.
Load More Replies...
Ellinor she/they/elle 1 month ago
NTA, also I think that making the 5 years old get tested for ADHD (not just ADD) and the 3 years old for Autism Spectrum wouldn't be a bad idea.
Mike F 1 month ago
All the alphabet soup aside, a 5yo and a 3 1/2yo have the focus of a house fly. EVERYTHING catches their attention and if it is interesting for 30 seconds, it's the new task. That's just little kids being their precious selves. The baby daddy needs a wake up call, whatever that looks like. The bit©h gf needs to be removed from the equation completely because it's quite obvious that she has no clue how to deal with small children.
Load More Replies...
Kate Johnson 1 month ago
I would have a serious problem with this "Sally come lately" gf disciplining my children or actually being the primary caregiver. Who the f is she? I'd tell them there will be NO UNITED FRONT, unless I am consulted prior to the punishment. These are NOT HER CHILDREN.
Apatheist Account2 1 month ago
Does AI write as badly as this? OP sounds like a poorly-educated teenager.
Ace 1 month ago
go to chatgpt dot com and type "write a story about kids being banned from trick or treating because of bad behaviour, in the style of a british poorly-educated teenage mother"
Load More Replies...
J R 1 month ago
JFC! Grounding kids this young is unrealistic except in cases of extreme misbehavior. Kids that age get rambunctious and messy. They don't have great impulse control or attention spans. A 15-minute timeout would have sufficed. A united front is all well and good until one parent is being ridiculous. OP's time, OP gets to decide whether to Trick or Treat
geezeronthehill 1 month ago
What's girlfriend going to do? Tell the mom that she's grounded, too? She needs a metaphorical dope slap.
Faye Bosworth 1 month ago
Theyre 3 and 5 ffs. The oldest deffo sounds ADD, and the youngest needs to get tested for ASD methinks, tho she may be too young yet, and either way, THEYRE 3 AND 5. I work with sen kiddos atm, the gf is being ridiculous
agermanhome 1 month ago
If they ran off because Paw Patrol was on, it's the adult who made the mistake of letting them know the fact that Paw Patrol was on 🤷🏼♀️
Donna Harris 1 month ago
Why is someone who has been in your childrens lives less than a year having any say in the children's lives. You coparent with your husband...and he is an a*s for backing his mentally stunted gf. Does she have children at all? Didn't think so. They're KIDS for pete's sake, these are not teenagers being willfully disobedient. The punishment is too severe for such a stupid minor infraction. NO...you don't have to do what this woman says, these are your children. She will end up causing your children to be fearful or just show outright dislike for her. They are children, your children. Tell her to take a hike and your ex too for going along with this bs. If your kids are being brats they're brats, punish them...don't punish them for being thoughtless...give 'em a chance
Sarah Léon 1 month ago
No matter the problem or the behaviour or the age, I would say that whatever the thing, you don't punish a child in the other parent's house. If a kid has to be punish by dad, he is punish in dad's home. Mom has nothing to do in it so no punishment has to be enforce from one house to another.
Jean White 1 day ago
Girlfriend of seven months? C'mon, she doesn't get a say in anything concerning trick or treating. They are small children and are learning...she could have not let them watch a program, put the in their room for an hour. Seems like an extremely harsh and unjust punishment to me for children their age, especially as you are waiting on a diagnosis for one of them. Tell her to take a hike.
Spittnimage 1 month ago
Had a therapist who told me when my daughter was three she wasn't gonna remember what she did to be punished after three minutes; best punishment was to give her time out for three minutes.
K Barnes 1 month ago
The punishment doesn't fit the crime at all. Turning off paw patrol and having the kids help clean up would have been appropriate (even thought they would have been ineffective at cleaning). Missing a once a year special event is not. Especially not one panned with the other parent on their time. Also, hyper-fixation is a common ADHD symptom, both kids might have ADHD although the younger one is a bit young to be diagnosed.
Scott Rackley 1 month ago
Uh, no. Why does the step parent have any say in the children's discipline?
K Barnes 1 month ago (edited)
It's possible that this was the dad's choice and that he wants her to discipline them and take it off of his plate. Edit- I say this only because I know a few absentee fathers who get girlfriends to raise their kids for them (they're pathetic).
Load More Replies...
Janelle Collard 1 month ago
Not sure what's wrong, but I can't get past the 2nd page of this article. Refreshing the page doesn't help.
Crystalwitch60 1 month ago
Excuse me biatch (the step well actually not step parent get back in your dam lane !! Three and 5 yr old kids DO NIT GET GROUNDED FFS. maybe5 mins max on the naughty step over done with , I’m a stepmother , n with last husband my kids father ,the one as was a 14 mths old when we got together , so I was like a mum as well, n neither me nor his mum grounded him till he was ten or other lad who was 6 ,mine were never grounded untill ten , the time they have mates etc 5 N three HELL NO !, op your their mum NOT HER , FRKM A MUM ANDA STEPMOTHER three times lol slap her back in to her lane (out of sight of the kids I add , n tell your cruel ex to parent up !, n cut his way outta line cruel ways ! Oh n enjoy Halloween xx
Mel in Georgia 1 month ago
Sounds like the GF has zero experience with little kids. She should have no say in major punishments. Mom and dad need to hash this out for what's appropriate for their kids and leave the GF out of it.
Binky Melnik 1 month ago (edited)
Not only that but if you wanna punish kids you’re responsible for, you don’t fob that punishment onto someone else! I’ve never been a parent, but if someone unloaded some kids onto me and told me I’m responsible for the punishment they’d made up for the kid, I’d tell ‘em to gargle my balls because if you want your kids punished, then YOU do it! I’m sure as hell not doing it, and I don’t care if it’s minor nonsense or major c**p: YOU dole out the punishment you feel is right. I will NOT be the punisher-by-proxy! Grrr! This crunt is making me so angry and I neither know these people nor will I ever meet them! 🤬 ETA: I’m struggling to understand how little kids are sposta understand that a punishment in October is because of something they did in August. When I was a kid and did something wrong, I was punished *right then and there*, presumably so that I understood that what I did was *because* of the punishment. Had my folks waited a couple month and then punished me saying “This is for what you did two months ago,” I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made the connection between my misbehavior and the punishment. This lady seems not to understand how and WHY to punish kids (nor who does the punishing, obviously).
Load More Replies... FreeTheUnicorn 1 month ago
Part of being a united front is discussing big consequences before they are handed down.
Anne Edwards 4 weeks ago
You don't need to be a united front with anyone but the child's parent. If it were me, idbe getting legal advice and arranging a proper parenting pla that makes it very clear who makes decisions.
Load More Replies... Ellinor she/they/elle 1 month ago
NTA, also I think that making the 5 years old get tested for ADHD (not just ADD) and the 3 years old for Autism Spectrum wouldn't be a bad idea.
Mike F 1 month ago
All the alphabet soup aside, a 5yo and a 3 1/2yo have the focus of a house fly. EVERYTHING catches their attention and if it is interesting for 30 seconds, it's the new task. That's just little kids being their precious selves. The baby daddy needs a wake up call, whatever that looks like. The bit©h gf needs to be removed from the equation completely because it's quite obvious that she has no clue how to deal with small children.
Load More Replies... Kate Johnson 1 month ago
I would have a serious problem with this "Sally come lately" gf disciplining my children or actually being the primary caregiver. Who the f is she? I'd tell them there will be NO UNITED FRONT, unless I am consulted prior to the punishment. These are NOT HER CHILDREN.
Apatheist Account2 1 month ago
Does AI write as badly as this? OP sounds like a poorly-educated teenager.
Ace 1 month ago
go to chatgpt dot com and type "write a story about kids being banned from trick or treating because of bad behaviour, in the style of a british poorly-educated teenage mother"
Load More Replies... J R 1 month ago
JFC! Grounding kids this young is unrealistic except in cases of extreme misbehavior. Kids that age get rambunctious and messy. They don't have great impulse control or attention spans. A 15-minute timeout would have sufficed. A united front is all well and good until one parent is being ridiculous. OP's time, OP gets to decide whether to Trick or Treat
geezeronthehill 1 month ago
What's girlfriend going to do? Tell the mom that she's grounded, too? She needs a metaphorical dope slap.
Faye Bosworth 1 month ago
Theyre 3 and 5 ffs. The oldest deffo sounds ADD, and the youngest needs to get tested for ASD methinks, tho she may be too young yet, and either way, THEYRE 3 AND 5. I work with sen kiddos atm, the gf is being ridiculous
agermanhome 1 month ago
If they ran off because Paw Patrol was on, it's the adult who made the mistake of letting them know the fact that Paw Patrol was on 🤷🏼♀️
Donna Harris 1 month ago
Why is someone who has been in your childrens lives less than a year having any say in the children's lives. You coparent with your husband...and he is an a*s for backing his mentally stunted gf. Does she have children at all? Didn't think so. They're KIDS for pete's sake, these are not teenagers being willfully disobedient. The punishment is too severe for such a stupid minor infraction. NO...you don't have to do what this woman says, these are your children. She will end up causing your children to be fearful or just show outright dislike for her. They are children, your children. Tell her to take a hike and your ex too for going along with this bs. If your kids are being brats they're brats, punish them...don't punish them for being thoughtless...give 'em a chance
Sarah Léon 1 month ago
No matter the problem or the behaviour or the age, I would say that whatever the thing, you don't punish a child in the other parent's house. If a kid has to be punish by dad, he is punish in dad's home. Mom has nothing to do in it so no punishment has to be enforce from one house to another.
Jean White 1 day ago
Girlfriend of seven months? C'mon, she doesn't get a say in anything concerning trick or treating. They are small children and are learning...she could have not let them watch a program, put the in their room for an hour. Seems like an extremely harsh and unjust punishment to me for children their age, especially as you are waiting on a diagnosis for one of them. Tell her to take a hike.
Spittnimage 1 month ago
Had a therapist who told me when my daughter was three she wasn't gonna remember what she did to be punished after three minutes; best punishment was to give her time out for three minutes.
K Barnes 1 month ago
The punishment doesn't fit the crime at all. Turning off paw patrol and having the kids help clean up would have been appropriate (even thought they would have been ineffective at cleaning). Missing a once a year special event is not. Especially not one panned with the other parent on their time. Also, hyper-fixation is a common ADHD symptom, both kids might have ADHD although the younger one is a bit young to be diagnosed.
Scott Rackley 1 month ago
Uh, no. Why does the step parent have any say in the children's discipline?
K Barnes 1 month ago (edited)
It's possible that this was the dad's choice and that he wants her to discipline them and take it off of his plate. Edit- I say this only because I know a few absentee fathers who get girlfriends to raise their kids for them (they're pathetic).
Load More Replies... Janelle Collard 1 month ago
Not sure what's wrong, but I can't get past the 2nd page of this article. Refreshing the page doesn't help.
Crystalwitch60 1 month ago
Excuse me biatch (the step well actually not step parent get back in your dam lane !! Three and 5 yr old kids DO NIT GET GROUNDED FFS. maybe5 mins max on the naughty step over done with , I’m a stepmother , n with last husband my kids father ,the one as was a 14 mths old when we got together , so I was like a mum as well, n neither me nor his mum grounded him till he was ten or other lad who was 6 ,mine were never grounded untill ten , the time they have mates etc 5 N three HELL NO !, op your their mum NOT HER , FRKM A MUM ANDA STEPMOTHER three times lol slap her back in to her lane (out of sight of the kids I add , n tell your cruel ex to parent up !, n cut his way outta line cruel ways ! Oh n enjoy Halloween xx
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