Woman Returns Stepdaughter's Birthday Gift Because She Didn't Save Her Daughter A Cupcake
The woman felt bad for her 4-year-old daughter.
Sara Cervera via Unsplash / Cookie Studio and Krakenimages.com via Shutterstock / Sketchify via Canva One woman decided to take back the expensive birthday gift she had purchased for her stepdaughter's birthday after the girl didn't save her daughter a cupcake at the party. After taking the gift back, she took to Reddit to ask strangers on the internet if she went too far.
The woman explained that her fiancé had a 16-year-old daughter and she had a 4-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Since the two were engaged, she wanted their kids to get along, but her stepdaughter remained distant from her daughter. She had brought this up to her fiancé numerous times, but he just said to give them time.
But things came to a head when she took her 4-year-old to her stepdaughter’s sweet 16 birthday party.
The teenager handed out cupcakes to all her guests but had none left for the little girl.
The woman felt her stepdaughter didn’t make any cupcakes for her daughter on purpose.
“I felt confused, I asked if she made enough cupcakes and [whether] there were guests that came uninvited. She said no and that she just didn't make one for my daughter,” the woman added.
The stepmom didn’t appreciate that and felt bad for her daughter, so she got up to leave. Her fiancé tried to stop her and offered his cupcake for her daughter but the woman refused.
“On the way out, I grabbed the gift I brought for my stepdaughter and she stood there and watched. I could hear her yell ‘dad she took the iPhone’ while I was walking out with my daughter,” the woman explained.
After a while, her fiancé came over to her place to have a discussion about the birthday party, which turned into an argument.
The man tried to justify his daughter’s actions by saying she was just a teenager and teens do random things all the time.
“I said she excluded my daughter and didn't save her a cupcake, but he said it was just a cupcake and then reminded me that he offered his cupcake and said I should've accepted it and called it a day,” the woman added. He claimed that taking back the gift wasn’t a good idea and it could hurt her relationship with her stepdaughter in the long run.
The couple hasn’t talked much to each other since and has been communicating via text — and people on Reddit believed she did the right thing.
“Leaving was your only option at that point. It takes a special kind of ugly to want to exclude a 4-year-old little kid from a birthday celebration,” one user wrote.
“If stepdaughter can verbalize that she intentionally did not make a cupcake for your daughter, she’s old enough to understand why you left,” said another.
Many people advised the woman to not go ahead with the wedding and break off her engagement with the man, suggesting that “You might want to rethink that engagement if this is indicative of how your fiancé and his daughter will treat you and your child,” as one person commented — and experts would likely agree.
According to licensed psychotherapist Sarah Noel, MS, LMHC, even if her 4-year-old daughter is too young yet to understand how she's being excluded, if this pattern continues in the relationship, it could cause trauma in the long run. In a Good Therapy advice column, Noel advises having the entire family seek therapy.
Coming together as a blended family isn't always easy, and it's possible the man's daughter is taking her disappointment about her dad's relationship with someone other than her mother out on the young girl. However, it's up to the parents to address rather than excuse the behavior.
Sanika Nalgirkar is a news & entertainment writer. She has a master's degree in creative writing. See more of her writing on her website.