Dad Confronts Teen Daughter's Porcelain Doll Obsession As It Scares Her Siblings

" She was crying the whole time I had her pack them up and my wife thinks I am going to far"

Damjan

• Published in Interesting
• December 20, 2023

In families, it's hard to keep everyone happy when each person likes different things. This can be even tougher when someone has a unique hobby or collection.

In this Reddit story, a 14-year-old girl likes porcelain dolls, which makes things more challenging for her family. OP describes a unique situation: their teenage daughter cherishes an extensive collection of porcelain dolls, much to the dismay of her younger siblings, aged 12 and 9.

The dolls, deemed creepy by the family, have become a source of tension in the household. While the parents have tried to maintain peace by setting boundaries, the daughter finds amusement in using her dolls to scare her siblings.

This mischievous behavior escalates when she introduces them to the horror film "Annabelle," intensifying their fear of the dolls. The situation reaches a boiling point when the daughter hides a doll in her sister's soccer bag, causing the younger sibling to break down in tears and miss practice.

Despite previous discussions and even grounding, the daughter's behavior persists. In a decisive move, the father removes the dolls from the daughter's possession, storing them in a unit away from home. This action, although aimed at protecting the younger children, leaves the daughter distraught and the mother questioning the severity of the punishment.

OP's daughter collects porcelain dolls, but his younger children don't like them. His daughter enjoys placing the dolls to play pranks on her siblings.

To address this ongoing issue, OP placed the dolls in storage to prevent further problems, but his wife disagrees with this decision.

OP is not in the wrong for wanting to put the dolls in storage because she's scaring the kids.

Once she realizes the impact of her actions, it's appropriate for OP to return the dolls to her since they mean a lot to her.

The consequence for not stopping the hobby of scaring siblings is similar to a time-out.

Setting boundaries is important.

OP has taken the necessary steps to address the issue, including having conversations, grounding the child, and taking appropriate actions to teach her about the consequences.

Not respecting toy rules leads to consequences, like losing them or facing punishment.

OP shouldn't return the dolls until she is responsible and faces consequences.

The problem wouldn't exist if she kept them in her room as instructed.

Her unwillingness to compromise resulted in a forced compromise.

She can have the dolls back when she stops scaring her siblings.

The punishment is appropriate for her actions.

When kids do something wrong, they must face consequences, just like when they get a time-out. Setting rules and teaching kids to follow them is part of growing up.

OP has done the right things by talking to his daughter, giving her punishments, and finally putting the dolls away to protect the younger kids. Not following rules, whether they're about toys or anything else, can lead to losing privileges or getting into trouble.

If the daughter had agreed to keep her dolls in her room and compromise with her family, this problem might not have happened. But because she didn't want to compromise, her parents had to take action and put the dolls away until she could show she was responsible and understood the consequences of her actions.

Damjan