This Mom Is Livid After Her Son Was Pressured To Share His Raffle Prizes With Another Child Who Didn't Win

I know not everyone feels this way, but it's a parent's job to teach their kids to appropriately manage their emotions when things don't go their way. Pressuring others to bend over backward to take away your child's disappointment is only setting them up for failure.

mom embracing her son while he looks uncomfortable

That couldn't be clearer with this wild story concerning user ButterscotchNaive801, who stood her ground after being pressured to make her child share with another kid who threw a tantrum.

In a post to the Am I the asshole subreddit, she explained:

"I have two sons: Robbie (16) and Cameron (8). Robbie had an awards banquet for his team, and the entire family went. Every year, they have a raffle with a bunch of prizes. I bought a roll of tickets for both sons and told them to put in for whatever. Cameron had two things he really wanted: a LEGO kit and a remote control car. He put basically all his tickets in for those."

"There was another boy there, probably a little younger than Cameron, who was running around and saying he was going to win the remote control car. Everyone would just smile and say, 'We'll see!'"

"Come time for the raffle; Cameron won the LEGO kit. A few draws later, and he also wins the remote control car."

"When the other little boy’s parents explained to their son he didn’t win, he broke down in a huge tantrum where he was screaming and crying. His dad had to carry him out because he was causing a disturbance."

"We were sitting with two other families at our table, and one told Cameron he should give the car to the little boy. Cameron said, 'No.' They looked at me for backup, and I said, 'It’s his choice.'"

"I changed the subject. The little boy did return. He came by our table a couple of times but didn't say anything. Just stared at the car, which I felt was fine."

"Later, a friend of mine said a few others felt Cameron should’ve given the little boy the car as he had already won something."

"I said, "This is just how raffles work, and it’s a good lesson for kids.'"

"There are times my sons haven’t won things from raffles or similar events. They learned young it’s all up to luck."

"Keep in mind, I never heard from the parents of this child. I know the mom in passing as our older sons have hung out a couple of times, but not that well. My husband wonders if we should’ve just encouraged Cameron to give it away. Am I the asshole for saying no?"

The nerve of those parents who tried to make Cameron share the prizes he won!

character in a hallway looking shocked
ABC

Well, as you may expect, people had some strong opinions on this situation. "Not the asshole," user StAlvia wrote. "Frankly, I would have told off those families for having the audacity to tell a child what he should do with his own possessions."

Agreeing, user RebeccaMCullen wrote: "If those families want that little boy to have a remote control car, they can pony up the money and give it to the child's parents to buy him one."

"It's not about the car (in my opinion at least). It's about good parenting. If a child learns that tantrums get him what he wants, that is a bad thing both for the child in his later life and for his parents. Instead, not winning gives him an opportunity to handle disappointment," user daquo0 wrote.

"I think it was extremely inappropriate for that other adult to directly ask your son to do that. It’s not okay to put a kid on the spot like that, especially when they can see that his parents are there and not prompting him to give the toy away. A definite overstep," user Snoopets8873 pointed out.

Parents, what's your take on this situation? Let us know in the comments below.