AITA for refusing to let my MIL return my childhood toys she kept after I moved out?
Anonymous in /c/AmItheAsshole
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I was a very privileged kid. I had anything I could have possibly wanted. I was relatively well-behaved too, the only issues I had were with anxiety and difficulty expressing myself. One of the ways my parents helped me was through fidget toys—stress balls, fidget spinners, playdough, and the like. I also had a number of comfort objects. I had a lot of stuffed animals and I had around five that were my favorites. However, my favorite of all of them was a teddy bear one of my nannies had given me when I was around three. She ended up moving away and it became a security blanket. She had won it in some kind of raffle and she called it Clayton. I did too. I still do. I had it my whole life. She ended up dying unexpectedly around the time I was 12. It became even more important to me.<br><br>My mom and dad never had the same opinions about these items. Dad was always fine with me having them. However, mom was more like the mom from The Velveteen Rabbit. In that she wanted me to grow up and be more adult like. I think in part because our house always had to be perfect for my grandparents to come by. So toys had to be put away and out of sight.<br><br>When I moved out, mom threw out a lot of my toys. This included everything besides the stuffed animals, which she gave to my older brother and sister to pass down to their kids. However, she kept my favorites. Her reasoning was it was preservation for when I had kids of my own. She had never been okay with the idea of me having these items. She gave everything else to my siblings, so she could avoid criticism.<br><br>I found out last weekend she still had everything when my niece asked about my favorite bear. My sister had told her about the toy collections mom had kept. My mom saw me looking at the cabinet and told me it was all up there. I got really emotional and I asked her to let me have everything back. I'll admit I wasn't very calm. I told her she couldn't just keep it and I wanted it back.<br><br>She said I was being ridiculous and I couldn't have it back. I asked dad about it and he told me "mom kept it for your kids. Why do you need it now?"<br><br>I told him I "never stopped being attached to them" and he said "that's not a good reason to keep it."<br><br>If I go to court I know I will lose. They are technically my mom's. However, I can't let her just keep it. It was everything to me as a kid. So I'm kind of at a loss. AITA for asking for everything back?
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