‘Stingy’ Man Expects 11-Year-Old to Buy Friends’ Birthday Gifts

At some point parents expect their kids to start earning money and purchasing things for themselves — but at what age?

Reddit is slamming a man who expects his 11-year-old daughter to buy her friends’ birthday gifts using her own “allowance money.”

However, the girl’s mom believes that as her parents, they “should be footing the bill, at least if she’s being invited to a party.”

“When she’s old enough to get a job sure, she can pay for it herself. Also we always have a budget, so if she wants to buy something that’s over budget she can cover the difference,” the mom explained in her post on the forum, asking Reddit if she’s “being too soft.”

Reddit users in the comments section backed the mom’s viewpoint and blasted the dad for expecting their child to pay for birthday gifts so young.

“We always pay. My kids don’t have the opportunity to go work 40 hours a week to pay for things like birthday presents, which are required to attend birthday parties, which are an important part of social life for little kids. If our kids were teenagers that would be different, but birthday parties in the traditional sense have stopped by then,” one person wrote.

“Your husband is nuts. We always pay, and it seems cruel and unfair to have your daughter pay,” someone else commented.

“Why would it be too soft? Why is that a thing? ‘Soft’ meaning what, exactly? You are totally correct. Sounds like sometimes you feel you need to defend yourself to your husband that you aren’t ‘spoiling’ your kid. I’ll bet you are an awesome parent … don’t let your husband make you feel like kindness, and softness are a bad thing,” another weighed in.

“My parents are stingy AF. They always paid for my friend’s gifts. Until I was 18,” someone else shared.