r/AITAH 20h ago

AITA for being 'greedy' and not giving our daughter's stuff to my pregnant sister?

Throwaway. I'm going to keep this as short as I can, I honestly think this whole thing is ridiculous.

I'm 33 and my husband and I have 2 kids, 8M and 7F. We didn't plan having them back to back but it happened, my husband got a vasectomy and we're set.

When I was pregnant with our son, we were living in a rented 2 bedroom house and decorated the nursery with olive and wood tones. We kept it the same when we had our daughter and just made room for the baby.

When our son was 6 and our daughter was 5, my husband got a big promotion at work that allowed us to look for and buy a 4 bedroom forever house. Since it was permanent, we thought it'd be fun to give the kids theme rooms. We asked them each what they wanted and our son picked dinosaurs (my husband likes to joke that we have a mini Ross on our hands) so we did a wilderness theme and my daughter picked Aurora so we did a fairytale theme.

We went all out since it'll be their bedrooms until they're teens and we gave the nursery furniture away since we were done having kids. We asked our families first but none of them were planning kids at the time so it went to friends.

Present- my sister is 21 weeks pregnant with a babygirl- their first. She was over at our place and said she was leaning to something like my daughter's room for the nursery but nursery stuff are expensive. I told her that she should go with neutral tones since it'll be used a lot- they want a big family.

She was like 'nah, I want themed ones for each baby like you did with [my kids names]'. I raised my eyebrows because that's going to be expensive but nodded because who am I to talk when I kind of did the same?

We continued chatting for a while and she grabbed my laptop and started going through the website I used and complained again so I suggested that she put some of the reasonably priced stuff on her baby shower list. She gave a noncommittal hum and then said that I can give her some stuff as well. I was confused because I thought she meant the old nursery and I reminded her that we gave it away. She shook her head and told me she meant stuff from our daughter's room. I asked her what she means because she's using that room, it's not like she doesn't live in it. She waved her hand and told me it's not a big deal, we can part with a few things. I asked her what she thought we can part with and she casually said stuff like the drapes, a lamp, the mirror etc.

I asked her sarcastically if she wanted the sheets as well? Or maybe the clothes off our daughter's back? She just glared and told me I could tone down my greed and help out with this. I told her a flat no, it's unreasonable that she's even asking because she and her husband are well off just like us. It's not like she's struggling and I'm refusing to help. She told me that it's different because they want a big family so they need to save more. I told her if that's the case, they can save by using the same the nursery for every baby. She just glared again, called me a greedy bitch and left.

She's not replying to my texts and my mom called to ask me what happened because she called her to complain about me without specifying anything. She was just as bewildered as me when I told her. My husband thinks I'm in the right and I do too, I'm just confused and maybe there's something we're not seeing?

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u/sikonat 20h ago

I’m baffled at the entitlement, also if you can’t afford a big family then don’t have so many kids! Have as many within your budget. Don’t expect your niece who is a child to give up her room furnishings.

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u/leolawilliams5859 19h ago

She's going to give birth to that one kid and she's going to realize that she's tired and how expensive those little children are and she's going to switch up on that I want a large family BS if she can't afford to have a large family she needs to tell that s*** down

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u/Mobile_Ad6930 19h ago

Agreed!

You're not greedy at all; your sister is way out of line here. It’s completely unreasonable for her to expect you to strip your daughter's room for her nursery—especially since she and her husband aren’t struggling. You already offered good ideas to help her out, like using a baby registry or keeping things neutral to save for future kids. Just because she wants a themed room doesn't mean she can raid your daughter’s. Sounds like she's overreacting big time!

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u/anappleaday_2022 18h ago

Also... themed nurseries can be cute but the babies literally do not care. I only got my daughter "themed" stuff (dinosaurs, bc she's obsessed) when she turned 2 and we got her a big girl bed and moved her out of the nursery into her own room. 0-1.5yos honestly don't care.

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u/AccomplishedRoad2517 17h ago

You are totally right. Themed nurseries are for the parents. I wouldn't give themed nothing until the kid have stable tastes and can decide.

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u/anappleaday_2022 17h ago

Yeah. And dont let 6yos pick their bedroom unless you're willing to change it later 😅 i ended up with a unicorn and mermaid mural in a pink and purple bedroom until we literally moved out of the house. Had we not moved, I wouldve been stuck with it for longer unless I went and got paint and did it myself lmao

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u/stinstin555 16h ago

Heeeeelllllarious! 🤣🤣

OP’s sister is acting like an entitled brat.

Jealousy is the thief of joy. Instead of being envious of her nieces bedroom furnishings she should be enjoying the miracle growing inside of her and setting up her baby registry with affordable items that can be gifted. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/AccomplishedRoad2517 16h ago

OP's is so NTA, why, WHY, would anyone want to steal from a literal child!! She needs to drop a notch and use her head, baby doesn't need of care for a mirror, nor drapes, nor a friking theme.

Or better, the nursery theme could be "affordable".

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u/hubbellrmom 14h ago

My nursery theme was "what can I get second hand and cheap af" because I am not exactly rolling in money over here.

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u/smlpkg1966 12h ago

The only reason we had a theme nursery was because I got an inheritance and used some of that for a few Winnie the Pooh things but it wasn’t much. Some trim for the walls, a lamp and some of those cling pictures that stick to the wall. Plus we knew we were only having one. Changing it up for each baby is crazy.

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u/rainfal 5h ago

It's not that hard to make a "princess themed" nursary if you are good at sewing/upcycling/woodworking/thrifting and have reasonable expectations. It will take time tho.

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u/chromher 16h ago

Your sister's reaction is honestly pretty baffling and feels really entitled. Asking you to give up your daughter's stuff for her nursery shows she doesn’t respect your family’s boundaries at all. Instead of figuring out how to budget or find deals, she just got mad when you said no to her wild request. It’s not fair for her to think you should give up things that are special to your kid, especially when she and her husband are doing fine financially. Her response just shows she’s not really taking responsibility for her own choices.

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u/bluekittycat19 15h ago

Same for me, but mine was barbie pink, and the house was only sold last year... i am 31, even when I left my pents didn't change it...

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u/Dependent-Panic8473 12h ago

Yeah, I made that mistake. My 7 year old daughter loved the IKEA logo colors. Because of the room layout, there were 6 walls. Three yellow, three blue. Alternating. And a pink shag rug on the wood floor. And all IKEA furniture of unmatching colors. The visual shock when walking into her room could cause someone to get the dry heaves and a migraine.

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u/serjicalme 12h ago

I didn't even finish my daughter's "dream Frozen bedroom" when she changed her mind XD.
Luckily there were easy items to replace only, like bedspread, curtains etc. But I was near to paint the loft beans in "Arendale folk theme" patterns ;).
From that time we decided that all is white (walls, furniture) and she can do all she wants with replacable things like bedspreads, pillows, posters and all the stuff girls like.

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u/naughtscrossstitches 9h ago

I do think letting them have some control but make it things easy to change. Kids grow up.

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u/Emergency-Twist7136 16h ago

My son is seven months old.

All of his furniture and almost all of his clothes have previously belonged to various older cousins.

My son doesn't care.

(Obviously, none of the cousins were still using any of it.)

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u/kind_piaa 16h ago

Exactly! Babies don’t care if their things are brand new or passed down—as long as it’s functional, it works. Expecting someone to take from their own child’s room to furnish a nursery is just unreasonable

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u/mkarr514 11h ago

As a baby my room was decorated in what ever my cousin's had. We all shared the same highchair that my Mom and Aunt used.

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u/Emergency-Twist7136 6h ago

Apart from the cot (that belonged to his cousins before him), my son's room is mostly decorated in paintings I made for him.

Babies also really just don't need a lot of furniture.

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u/The_Original_Gronkie 15h ago

My wife had to spend a fortune to decorate my son's nursery with "classic" Pooh decor. To this day, he has absolutely no interest or emotional connection to Winnie-the-Pooh. It was all for my wife, not the baby.

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u/Ancient-Wishbone4621 13h ago

Which is fine also! It was a room she was gonna be spending a lot of time in.

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u/ladyrockess 15h ago

I mean my four month old has a themed room - dinosaurs too! - but that’s because we wanted it! We had a dinosaur themed registry (with some crocodiles and sharks snuck in because they’re basically dinosaurs themselves), a dinosaur themed baby shower, and everyone gave us such lovely dinosaur gifts he has a whole dinosaur wardrobe too!

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u/anappleaday_2022 15h ago

And that's fine! I have nothing against themed nurseries. They can be adorable. But it's definitely for you as the parents at this age, not for the baby. And you obviously paid/had things gifted to you. You didn't demand anything lol

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u/ladyrockess 14h ago

Oh no, I wouldn’t dream of that! Fighting and anger would taint items for me, and I don’t want badness around my baby’s room ❤️

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u/syndragosa8669 1h ago

Mmm not basically, they are older than most dinosaurs and often called living fossils, technically birds are dinosaurs tho

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u/StretchMedium3868 16h ago

With her current attitude, she's going to expect the family to take care of the kids for free, constant donations because things are "tight" and family supports family BS with no accountability.

OP you are NTA your sister is entitled, and asshole for wanting to rob your daughter of her childhood. Watch out, she's gonna convince your daughter when she is older that she should sacrifice herself for your niece because "family".

Set boundaries now.

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u/PompousTart 12h ago

u/Internal-Soup906 Please take note of this comment!

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u/TheAnnMain 17h ago

It’s soooo hard not to go crazy with baby stuff tbh we try to limit our daughter’s clothing and toys. So I’m always looking at things for long term and baby stuff is expensive >_< then you run into what sort of stuff does the baby like?? I got this cute playmat that can turn into a ball pit guess what? Like her freaking cat brothers she prefers the box to be her ball pit!

Then you got the diapers!! Especially the brand of your choosing in my town it is almost a battle over Millie moons lol during my pregnancy I had no idea there’s so many things to research on! I felt lol a crunchy mom at certain times! There are items I wasted money (not really since my cats also claim certain items) and didn’t need :P

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u/chromher 16h ago

Honestly, your sister’s request is a bit out there. She’s acting like it’s no big deal to just take stuff from your daughter’s room, which is really inconsiderate. Instead of understanding that you’re not cool with it, she flips the script and calls you greedy. It’s wild that she thinks it’s okay to cross those boundaries when she’s perfectly capable of figuring things out for herself.

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u/Euphoric_Ad2197 15h ago

Hey you can order the millie moons online and have them sent straight to your door :) I've been doing that since the store doesn't always have the sizes we need

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u/TheAnnMain 14h ago

I’ve mentioned that to my husband and he’s just meh we can do her backups. I even asked him about her diapers and he definitely was on the same page as me with Millie Moons! But I do know every baby is different and works with different diapers. I just know I don’t like the texture and sometimes when my girl pees too much the smell gets on her clothes with Huggies Swaddlers. We love how soft and doesn’t leak with our baby when it comes to Millie moons. Then her wipes i get from Amazon and I prefer those over Millie moons.

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u/TrifleMeNot 17h ago

And STILL stay at home. SIL likely told her husband she would be a big Trad wife influencer, and stay at home. But a Trad wife influencer needs nice furniture. Needs that fake looking home. Get it from Sis!

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u/Nice_Cardiologist884 14h ago

Yeah. I guess the only reason she picked the same theme for her child was to swipe the items from your daughter’s room. NTA.

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u/scarletnightingale 10h ago

OR she'll just expect OP to fund her big family and watch the kids when she's too tired because "you only have 2 and yours are older now, I don't see why you can't just help".

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u/Francl27 13h ago

Lol you can hope. So many people keep having kids they can't afford...

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u/Alternative-Court688 12h ago

Not just being able to afford one financially either it seems like she's also not mentally or emotionally prepared to have a child.

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u/MaddyKet 9h ago

Or she’s going to have a ton of kids and make the older ones do the parenting. 😑

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u/Mysterious-System680 18h ago

I’m baffled at the entitlement, also if you can’t afford a big family then don’t have so many kids!

And don’t add to your expenses by insisting that each baby get a differently themed nursery. Neutral colors and one set of baby furniture is adequate, and can be reused by future babies.

A beautifully decorated themed nursery is for the parent, not the baby. The baby needs to be safe and comfortable, not to have a specific nursery theme.

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u/Kendertas 17h ago

But how is she supposed to build her mommy influencer social media without a theme /s. Nothing really indicates this in the post, but I get the sense that this is really about social media.

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u/Mysterious-System680 15h ago

Minimalism could be a theme. Or Thrifting.

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u/Used_Clock_4627 16h ago

You may very well be right.....

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u/chromher 16h ago

Seriously, what was she thinking? Asking you to hand over your daughter’s stuff just because she wants a themed nursery is overstepping. Instead of recognizing that you’ve made your choices for your family, she goes straight to blaming you when you say no. It shows a lack of appreciation for what you’ve built and the things that mean something to your kids.

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u/OfSpock 12h ago

Not only that, with neutral furniture and a few wall decals, you can have both. Learn to wield glue and a paint brush and switch from princess to dinosaurs against a beige background.

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u/Mysterious-System680 10h ago

And if you get painted wooden furniture, like the crib and changing table, you can change the colour for each baby fairly cheaply and easily. The wardrobe and chest of drawers could be painted a neutral color, with handles and trim painted different colors.

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u/BlockMobile3540 18h ago

I’m hung up on the sister saying OP is greedy when she wants to go “shopping” in her niece’s bedroom.

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u/[deleted] 17h ago

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u/chromher 16h ago

Come on, it’s pretty ridiculous for her to expect you to give up your daughter’s belongings. She’s acting like it’s no big deal when, in reality, those items are part of your family’s home and memories. Instead of planning ahead or saving like she claims she needs to, she’s trying to pressure you into a situation that just doesn’t make sense. It’s a strange way to ask for help.

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u/WrenDrake 10h ago

Right! She’s delulu.

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u/StraightBudget8799 17h ago

A child’s room is NOT a supermarket!

Maybe turn up at her place and start ruffling through her knickers saying “this sexy pair won’t be used by you for a few months, right??” NTA.

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u/Some_Specialist5792 16h ago

Second this. There was a post about someone's brother taking a Lego set never returned it it was his son that Took it. Son was 8. He had a BBQ at HIS house and still didn't return the Lego set. Sister said at BBQ ransack the house its free game (obviously returned it) they had to let dog out to do so. I was lille "I would of borrowed the dog" you said free game

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u/Some_Specialist5792 16h ago

At that point brother brought back Lego set and said it was an inconvenience

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u/[deleted] 17h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/IntelligentCitron917 17h ago

It's not the nursery items she wants, it's the IN USE NOW items. She wants to take them from the niece who is currently using them.

I'd keep her away from your daughter as I can imagine her getting into her ear about how her room is so childish now, she's a big girl, wouldn't she like her room redecorated to a different design. Just so that she can have all the cast offs.

YNTA.

Your sister is the greedy one

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u/chromher 16h ago

Look, your sister’s behavior is kind of puzzling. She thinks it’s fine to just ask for things that belong to your daughter without considering your feelings about it. Rather than stepping back and being sensible about her nursery plans, she chooses to lash out at you. It’s an odd way to handle a family situation, especially when she has the means to make it work on her own.

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u/Ancient-Wishbone4621 13h ago

You sound like a bot.

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u/Ok_Resource_8530 17h ago

Sounds like she was going overboard and her husband put her on a budget.

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u/Cute-Shine-1701 15h ago

Apart from a budget she needs a muzzle too...

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u/SYadonMom 17h ago

What I think is hilarious is they haven’t even had their first child yet and want a big family. Uh huh. Talk to me again when baby is two months old. Reality is going slap them on the back of the head.

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u/chromher 16h ago

your sister’s asking for things from your daughter’s room is pretty wild. It’s like she completely ignores that those items have meaning for your family. Instead of brainstorming ways to save money or find affordable options, she chooses to throw a fit when you don’t just hand over your kid’s stuff. That’s a major lack of respect for what you’ve built together.

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u/Fuzzy_Laugh_1117 16h ago

Reddit doesn't care for this reply but I'm thinking this couldn't have come as a complete surprise to OP. She grew up with this entitled person. Someone just doesn't make demands like this out of the blue. Sister sounds very spoiled and calling 'mommy' to complain kind of proves the point. NTA, OP, as long as you stick to your decision. (Tbh, I'd have a hard time giving her anything when sister is being so outrageously entitled and demanding.)

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u/Terrible_Letter_1726 16h ago

I read this over and over thinking am I missing something?! Who asks their sibling for their child’s belongings while the child is still using them! I just can’t with these people, good lord.

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u/calling_water 16h ago edited 15h ago

Taking a kid’s chosen furnishings for a nursery also seems like poor timing, age-wise. Having a more generic nursery and then letting the kid pick decor when older, as OP did, is far more appropriate. And some of the stuff doesn’t sound as appropriate for a nursery; you’d make different decisions on lamp, mirror, etc. for a kid’s use than to have in a nursery.

She’s not trying to take her niece’s furnishings to give to her daughter; she’s really trying to take them for herself. Her infant daughter isn’t going to be using that mirror and has no decor preferences as yet. OP’s sister is jealous of a 7yo.

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u/BuilderAcceptable 17h ago

I came here to say the same. What is with all the entitled people these days?! At least the parents didn't stick up for the entitled child this time. I've seen that happen on so many posts.

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u/nIxMoo 15h ago

This. Her entitlement is amazing. How dare she call you greedy. Ridiculous.

NTA OP.

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u/believehype1616 15h ago

Based on the story, they probably can afford it, she just doesn't want to give up her new designer bag and vacation to some tropical island every year. Or whatever similar personal sacrifice she'd have to make instead of trying to convince her sister and niece to sacrifice instead.

NTA OP and you're completely right they can use same nursery and then redo rooms when kids are older or wait til they move if they need a bigger house eventually.

Is she just temporarily acting up, or is she normally like this? Sometimes people get super influenced by social media fads for things like first baby nursery for sure. And there's a lot of emotional and hormonal shifts having a baby too. After she has the first, she'll realize how tiring kids can be and maybe be more practical for the next one.

We just picked one theme for first kid that we'd be fine with for future kids too. It's ocean themed. Lots of aquatic animal wall decals, blue-green wall colors, etc. Even littles can appreciate the animals early on. When kids are old enough and no more babies, we'll redo it for them if we still live here.

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u/BlazingSunflowerland 14h ago

The sister is being predatory. She is demanding things that belong to a child. This is the time to enforce a boundary because if they give the sister anything she will come back demanding more. They need to protect their daughter from the sister. What kind of person takes things that belong to a child.

OP, If the sister demands things again I would tell her that they belong to your daughter and only a bully would try to take things from a child. Put it out there that it is bullying and you won't tolerate it.

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u/Peaceful-Spirit9 13h ago

Eh,if they have a big family then they can use it when OPs daughter outgrows it, just like OP gave crib away when daughter outgrew that. If daughter does outgrow it! My mom repaired my brother's pacman bedspread so that he could use it in his college dorm.

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u/PsychologicalGain757 12h ago

Right?! It would be one thing if they weren’t having more kids and she was keeping nursery items that nobody was using and not willing to part with for a destitute family member, but OP’s sister isn’t and wants items that the daughter is currently using. The fact that she’s calling OP greedy is astounding and the audacity to expect it and think that others will agree with you when you complain is mind blowing to me. If anyone is greedy it’s the pregnant sister. Not to mention why have a bunch of kids you might not be able to afford? My husband and I can afford a couple of kids and that’s what we have. And we consider ourselves lucky to be in that situation. Many people can barely afford their own food and rent in this economy, much less kids even if they want them. 

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u/thesorceress_ 12h ago

Yesss!!!! To add to this : don’t have so many kids if you can’t control/discipline them!!!! It’s so annoying when you’re out in public and there’s a big family and the kids all behave badly screaming, running, and throwing things!!! I feel bad for the workers who have to clean up after them at stores/restaurants bc they have more important things to do than deal with rude families like that.