When a mom saw a video of her daughter making fun of a homeless person, she was furious. Sometimes our kids do little things that we don't agree with, but this time, her daughter had crossed a line.
So, as a punishment, her daughter slept outside for a night. A few days later, this mom posted on Reddit to ask people if they thought her punishment was too much. Read on to find out more about the situation and what the internet thought about it.
Teaching Your Kids A Lesson
Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, our kids don't listen to the things we've taught them.
Every parent has a different way of punishing their kids. This mom tried something that she had never done before to teach her daughter a lesson about making fun of the less fortunate.
This Single Mom Knew What It Was Like To Struggle
The mom posted to Reddit, as she wanted opinions on her punishment choice. She started off the post by stating that she was a single mother to two girls, "Jasmine" (16) and "Jessica" (14).
Their dad passed away when she was pregnant with Jess. At one point, she was barely making it, living paycheck to paycheck, but she worked hard to earn a degree and become successful. She wrote that she knew how hard it was to be at the bottom of society.
What Went Down
Her daughters knew how she struggled, which is why the mother was livid at Jessica's behavior.
Jasmine showed her mother a video of Jessica cussing out a homeless man and telling him, "Stop asking me for money, you'd earn it yourself if you weren't so lazy and spending what you earned on substances."
It Didn't Stop There
Then, when the homeless man complained about the cold, Jessica responded with something very nasty. "Yeah people camp for fun, even in December, you can't complain, you're living someone's holiday."
The mom continued on in the post, "Fury was an understatement for what I felt, as I thought I had raised an empathetic daughter."
What The Mom Did Next
The mom found the homeless man and made Jessica apologize and help pay for a hotel room for him to spend the night (she paid £20).
She then signed Jessica up to volunteer at a food bank—and finally, the mom decided Jessica should make good on her statement about sleeping outside.
Jessica Was Reluctant To Sleep Outdoors—But She Chose To Do It
The mother locked her daughter's bedroom door so she couldn't go in, and put a sign on it saying closed for the holidays. Then, she pitched a tent in the garden and filled it with blankets and a thermal sleeping bag.
The mom slept in the room closest to the garden for the night so she was nearby if anything were to go wrong. Jessica was reluctant to sleep outside, but ultimately chose that over the alternative of not having access to her phone until the Christmas holidays were over.
"Would You Like To Do That Every Day?"
"In the morning, Jessica was crying about how horrible it was to wake up on a cold mat and get disrupted sleep due to birds." After comforting her, the mom asked her would she like to do that every day like the homeless man.
It struck a chord with Jessica, causing her to cry over her actions, while previously, even after spending the £20, she was rolling her eyes and her apology was not sincere. Later that day, the mom came home from work to Jessica making a big meal to donate to the homeless people who lived on the road near their house. The mom was proud of how Jessica had turned over a new leaf, and after taking the food to the people, the mom's sister came over.
Jessica Told Her Plans To Her Cousin
Apparently, Jessica and her cousin were talking at school, and he asked her about her plans for the afternoon. She said that she was going to cook for the homeless.
The cousin asked what triggered that, and Jess told him everything, which he relayed back to his mom (Jessica's aunt). The aunt said that the punishment was too harsh, and just the £20 and the food bank would have done the trick. She thought that her sister was acting irrationally due to her past.
The Mom Started Second-Guessing Herself
This caused the mom to second-guess her punishment decision and made her fear that she had, in fact, gone too far.
After posting on Reddit, she discovered the internet had her back, and most people thought that the sister was just overreacting. The mom was voted as "not the a**hole" by pretty much everyone who commented.
She Gave Her Daughter A Choice
Many people in the comments pointed out that the mom didn't force her daughter outside.
Instead, her daughter chose the punishment as opposed to losing her phone for a week or so.
The Mom Didn't Act Ice Cold To Her Daughter
When the daughter was crying about her bad night in the tent, the mom took some time to comfort her.
It wasn't like the mom started to yell at the daughter right when she came back inside. The mom also pitched the tent herself, and filled the tent with blankets and items to keep her daughter warm.
An Invaulable Lesson
Even if some people don't agree with the mom's methods, the daughter really took the lesson to heart.
Some people have never even tried to educate their kids on privilege, and it shows.
Her Life Was Never In Danger
The daughter chose the night of camping because she didn't know how hard it would be. Telling the homeless man he basically was living on "holiday" all the time proved that.
Even though it wasn't nice to be outside in the cold, the daughter was safe in her backyard, not on the street.
Most Of The Comments Were Positive, But...
Some people claimed that the mom was "bragging" about how her daughter's opinion had changed.
Yet, how would she be bragging when she admitted all of the horrible things her daughter said to the man? What do you think about this situation?