Teen Son Reproaches His Mom for Using His Money, but Karma Retaliates — Story of the Day

One day, after a disgusting incident with my son at the shop I refused to give him dinner. I think what I did was absolutely right...

“I should have told you before, Stacey, but I didn’t have the guts to admit it,” Jacob said as he opened up about having an affair with his colleague.

No, I wasn’t shocked or angry. I knew Jacob was having an affair way before he admitted it, but I never discussed it with him because I wanted him to confess to me. Sadly, that day had arrived sooner than I expected.

It wasn’t easy for me to let go of the only man I had loved with all my heart. But fate is fate, and we can’t change it no matter how hard we try.

Jacob was paying alimony after the divorce, and our son, Matthew, was living with me. I don’t know if it was the divorce or the people Matthew was hanging around with, but he didn’t seem the same to me in recent months.

He’d grown rude and arrogant and hardly listened to me. I assumed maybe the child needed some time because things like divorce aren’t easy for kids, but as time went on, the only thing that changed was Matthew’s attitude—that too for the worse.

We were driving to the city mall one day to get Matthew some new clothes. He knew it was that time of the month when Jacob would send the alimony, and this time he’d declared that he needed new clothes. Previously, it had been video games and sports shoes.

Matthew had already dashed into the mall by the time we finished the security check. I saw him entering one of the most expensive brands' store, and I knew maybe this time, I would have to spend more than what Jacob’s alimony could cover.

Matthew doesn’t like me following him around when he’s shopping, so I walked to another section where T-shirts were kept while he looked at jackets. One of the T-shirts seemed really nice to me, and I thought Matthew would look great in it. So I called him to try it on.

“Hey, Matt. Come here!” I called to him cheerfully.

“Yeah, what is it?” Matthew answered in a disinterested tone.

“This shirt looks great, Matt! Why don’t you try it on?” I asked.

Matthew sighed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t like it, mom. We’re not buying it.”

“But Matt...” Before I could finish, Matthew cut me off.

“Are you deaf? Can’t you understand I don’t like it?” he almost yelled at me. The entire store shifted its gaze to us.

“But Matt, I’m not forcing you to buy it. I was just asking if you liked it,” I explained, embarrassed by the fact that the entire crowd was staring at us.

“Oh, come on, mom!” he said rudely. “I’m so done with your so-called caring attitude. I’m not a kid anymore. I can decide for myself. Plus, the money dad sends is for me. It’s MY money!”

I was shocked. I couldn’t believe Matthew had said something like that publicly in front of everyone. I knew Matthew was a reckless child, but I didn’t expect him to behave so arrogantly.

“Well, Matt, I believe you’ve gone too far this time!” I locked my gaze on him. “So stop shouting and just get done with the shopping. We are not going out anytime after this!”

Matthew gave me a stern glance. “Who are you to tell me what I should be doing? You don’t have to pay for the things I buy. It's Dad who sends me money. So just hand over the cash and then do whatever you want!” he exclaimed.

At this point, I was almost teary-eyed. Somehow, I controlled my emotions, handed Matthew the money, and left the mall.

I was devastated by how Matthew had behaved with me, but it was high time I made him realize how wrong he was all this while.

He arrived home at around 8 p.m. I was watching TV in the living room when he came in. I pretended like I didn’t notice him enter.

“I’m hungry, mom,” he said, placing the shopping bags on the sofa. “Is the dinner ready?”

I didn’t say anything.

Matthew spoke up again. “I’m asking something, mom! Is dinner ready?”

“No, it’s not!” I finally broke my silence. “Why don’t you just buy it with the money dad sent you?”

“But I spent everything on clothes,” Mathew retorted.

“I don’t care. I’m not making dinner for you from now on, and I’m not giving you money either!” I said and continued watching TV.

Matthew was furious. “How dare you talk to me like that? I'm going to call dad and tell him about how you're treating me at home!”

When Matthew called Jacob, he found out his dad hadn’t been sending him money for the last two months due to his busy schedule at work. He also told Matthew that I had paid for everything he bought in those two months.

Mattew was shocked when he learned about that. He had always thought it was only his dad who cared about him. But now that he knew I fulfilled all his demands without saying anything or even letting him know, he felt really embarrassed for behaving rudely towards me all this time.

I have a small job that doesn’t pay me much, so I can’t provide expensive things for Matthew. I even advised him often that he should use money wisely. But just like other kids his age, Matthew never listened to me and thought I didn’t want to provide for him.

“I’m so sorry, mom,” Matthew told me as soon as he got off the phone. “I’ve been a terrible son. I promise I will never behave rudely to you.”

Yes, I was furious at him because of how rudely he had behaved. But everyone deserves a second chance, so I forgave him.

“It’s okay, Matt. Children often make mistakes,” I said and hugged him. “I’m glad you realized you were wrong.”

From that day on, Matthew and I have been closer than ever.

What can we learn from this story?

• Parents go through a lot of trouble to fulfill our wishes. Despite Matthew’s rude behavior, Stacey never said no to him for anything.
• Sometimes parents need to be strict with their kids. If Stacey hadn’t refused dinner to Matthew, he wouldn’t have called his dad and realized how much his mom loved him.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who broke her oath to her stepkids.

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