It’s expected for tension to rise between teens and their parents every now and then. Mom and Dad might still see them as children, while all they want to do is act like an adult.

But when this teenage girl’s father acted immaturely, she decided the most appropriate way to respond would be with petty revenge. Below, you’ll find the full story that she recently posted on Reddit, as well as a conversation between the teen and Bored Panda!

Teens often have a hard time getting along with their parents

Image credits: Zinkevych_D (not the actual image)

But after her father took the liberty of moving her things, this teen decided the best response would be petty revenge

Image credits: freddie marriage (not the actual image)

Image credits: wirestock (not the actual image)

Image credits: Alena Darmel (not the actual image)

Image credits: MetriomeXinthose

“My father’s behavior is a result of the environment that raised him”

To learn more about this situation, we reached out to the teen who shared her story online, Reddit user MetriomeXinthose. She shared that she was inspired to tell the story online purely because she found it hilarious. “I’ve come to terms with my past with my father and wanted to show people that petty revenge could actually work out for both parties involved,” she noted.

The OP also says that her father actually had no idea he had moved her important files. “He was moving a bunch of my other stuff, and a bit of my mom’s stuff, and he assumed that the folder was my mom’s old work files,” she explained. “When I was looking for it several weeks later, he had completely forgotten he even moved a folder in the first place!”

And thankfully, MetriomeXinthose’s father understands her way of organizing now, although small conflicts do still arise from time to time. “But we work through it! We both have our own demons I guess,” she added with a laugh.

As far as what she thought of the replies to her post, the OP says some were definitely heartwarming, but those condemning her father were disheartening. “My father was raised very very strictly in a household that I would consider to be quite emotionally lacking,” she noted. “My grandfather is a strict autistic man raised by an even stricter autistic man. This resulted in my grandfather being very rigid and even more specifically organized.”

“My father’s behavior is a result of the environment that raised him. He was raised with even higher standards for tidiness than he raised me with,” the OP explained. “Does that make him evil? No, it doesn’t. Was he a bit of a jerk? Yeah.”

“He does love me, and he’s trying; that’s enough for me to try to forgive him too”

But MetriomeXinthose says her father is working on his behavior. “Will he be perfect all the time? No. Will he get angry like this again? Probably. But will he make an effort to change and stop being a jerk? Yeah,” she told Bored Panda. “That’s all I need to forgive him. You can call me stupid (like some comments did), but that won’t stop me from having a relationship with my father who loves me, has apologized, and is striving to be better for me.”

Finally, the OP added a bit of information about her job, explaining why she had these files in the first place. “[It] is community based and involves basically mentoring and stuff. I was a mentee, then I signed to be a mentor. The community was the first place I felt safe with what was happening at home and all,” she shared. “14 was the minimum age to be an assistant mentor. However, we as a community are all very close, the mentors and bosses are quite young, so we all treat each other like family and act like siblings most of the time.”

“Last work period, my boss forgot some files at the temporary work place we had set up. I offered to keep the files until the work session,” she continued. “Since he trusted me, he took me up on that offer intending to pick it up before the next work session even started. Then the pandemic happened, so that didn’t happen.”

Finally, MetriomeXinthose added that her father shouldn’t be crucified for this and that her petty revenge was harmless. “Yes, my father was an abusive jerk. I’m aware. I haven’t completely forgiven him for my entire childhood yet. But he does love me, and he’s trying. That’s enough for me to try to forgive him too,” she told Bored Panda.

“What I did was gaslighting, but he kind of did it worse, don’t you think? He literally played along to my moving his stuff. He found it funny too,” she added. “We still laugh about it together to this day. No damage was done.”

Kids have an average of 5 arguments with their parents each week

We all know parents and teens tend to have a difficult time getting along. Whether they’re arguing about what time is an appropriate curfew, how much skin they should be showing when going to school, how much money they should be earning for household chores or which friends are a good influence on them, teens and parents have a knack for getting under each other’s skin.

But boys and girls don’t always have the same conflicts with their mother and father. According to Phys.org, girls are almost twice as likely to argue with either parent about their clothes and are more likely to argue with their mom over chores. On the other hand, boys are twice as likely to argue with their moms about politics and more likely to have conflicts with Mom over homework.

In fact, kids have an average of 5 arguments a week with their parents between the ages of 2 and 18, amounting to about 4,200 arguments while growing up, the New York Post reports. These disputes tend to last about 14 minutes, and parents believe that they “win” over 60% of them. 

Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual image)

It’s important for parents to give their children a healthy amount of privacy

The most common issues that cause fights between kids and their parents are chores, messy bedrooms, not cleaning up shared spaces, doing homework, bedtime, spending too much time on phones/computers, arguing with siblings, brushing teeth, watching too much TV and not eating healthy food.

While parents may feel that they’re entitled to their children’s possessions as much as their kids are (“my house, my rules”), it can actually be very beneficial for teens to have privacy from their parents. Verywell Family explains that privacy is important for teens to have autonomy and to help them understand that their parents trust them. And according to Angela Lamson, PhD, LMFT, this privacy should go beyond social interactions and extend to their bedrooms, their bodies and their possessions.

Allowing teens a healthy amount of privacy and space allows them to develop their interests, respects their modesty, allows them to gain confidence and actually creates fewer conflicts. Teens don’t usually respond well to having their privacy invaded, so as hard as it may be, it’s best for parents to accept that they cannot control every single aspect of their kids’ lives.

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual image)

As kids grow up, parents must understand that they can’t control every aspect of their lives

Raising Children recommends that parents avoid looking through their children’s things without asking, reading their diaries or messages between friends, communicating with them on social media if they don’t want you to, calling to check in on them all the time and listening in on their phone conversations. 

Instead, it’s wise to stay connected with your child by actively listening to them, being aware of their behavior and how they’re feeling, keeping an eye on their progress in school, getting to know their friends and making space for them to hang out in your home. And of course, resisting the urge to break your child’s trust or invade their privacy. Raising Children notes that if you need to know information from your kid, it’s best to ask them directly (“Where are you going?”), rather than snooping around to find out.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Do you think this teen was right to get petty revenge on her father? Then, if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article discussing petty revenge, we recommend reading this piece next!  

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual image)

Readers shared their thoughts on the teen’s revenge, and she joined in on the conversation to share more details

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