Kindness is one of the best virtues one can have in life; it paves the way forward for humanity as one – without judgments and bias. Today’s Reddit post comes from a mother who made her daughter sleep in a tent after she was very rude to a homeless man.
The Story
A woman with the username coolestthrowaway4 was shocked after finding out that her daughter, who she raised to be an empath, was rude to a homeless person. She posted her question on Reddit’s AITA (Am I the A**hole?) subreddit. Here is her story:
“I (34F) am a single mother to two girls, ‘Jasmine’ (16F) and ‘Jessica’ (14F). Their dad died when I was pregnant with Jess, and I had to work hard. We hit rock bottom, and I was barely making paycheque to paycheque but I managed to get a degree, become successful and we live well. Point is, I know how f*cking hard it is to be at the bottom of society, and my daughters know this, which is why I was livid at my daughter’s actions.”
“Yesterday, Jasmine showed me a video of Jessica cussing a homeless man out and telling him, ‘stop asking me for money, you’d earn it yourself if you weren’t so f*cking lazy and spending what you earned on substances.’ When the homeless man complained about the cold (we live in NE England), Jessica responded ‘Yeah people camp for fun, even in December, you can’t complain, you’re living someone’s holiday.’ Fury was an understatement for what I felt, as I thought I had raised an empathetic daughter.”
“Along with finding the homeless man and making her apologise and help pay for a hotel room for a night for him (she paid £20), as well as signing her up to volunteer at a food bank – I decided to take her up on her offer of sleeping outside. I locked her bedroom door so she couldn’t go in, put a sign on it saying Closed for the holidays, pitched a tent in the garden and filled it with blankets and the sleeping bag I used when I was camping in Norway on a family holiday as a teen (aka really bloody thermal). I slept in the room closest to the garden for that night so I was nearby if anything was to go wrong. She was reluctant to do it, but chose it over the option of not having access to her phone until the Christmas holidays are over.”
“In the morning, she was crying about how horrible it was to wake up on a cold mat and get disrupted sleep due to birds. After comforting her, I asked her would she like to do that everyday like the homeless man. It struck a cord with her and she was crying over her actions, while even after the £20 she was rolling her eyes and her apology was not sincere. This afternoon, I came home from work to Jessica making a big meal to donate to the homeless people who live on the road near our house. I was proud of how she turned over a new leaf, and after taking the food to the people, my sister came over. Apparently, my nephew and Jessica were talking at school, and he asked her about her plans for the afternoon, and she said that she was going to cook for the homeless. My nephew asked what triggered that, and Jess told him everything, which he relayed back to his mum. My sister said that my punishment was too harsh, and just the £20 and the food bank would have done the trick, and I was acting irrationally due to my past. Now I’m second guessing myself. AITA?”
The Responses
Everyone on Reddit supported and praised this mom for what she did. For context, NTA means “Not the A**hole.” Here are some of the top comments:
deed42 said:
“NTA. Sounds like the apology and £20 wasn’t enough. Walking a mile in their shoes taught her empathy.”
Little-bit_ commented:
“OMG. Your kids are going to turn into the most amazing adults. Keep doing what you’re doing. What an amazing mother. NTA.”
jigsawsandroses said:
“NTA – good on you for teaching your daughter a lesson, i hope the homeless guy is ok, he is the victim in this story. It must have been horrible for him, but a hotel stay may have done him good”
RabidHowler91 chimed in:
“NTA you found a way to show your daughter a different way of thinking without vilifying her. And clearly if she’s decided she wants to go out of her own way to help the homeless now your lesson worked, which means your parenting works. You aren’t forcing her to continue that behavior, the consequence was for one night and you handled it well”
This post has 2.0k comments; you can read them all on Reddit here.
Our Take
NTA. The mother of this story did what any good mother would do to teach their kids good values for the future. Had this action been left unchecked, her daughter would’ve continued this behavior and would’ve grown into a person who lacks kindness and empathy.
What’s Your Take?
What’s your take on this mother’s story about teaching her daughter a lesson on kindness? Let us know your take in the comments below!
Source: Reddit – AITA for making my daughter sleep in a tent
