Dad Lies About Son's Bike Being Stolen To Teach Him Lesson

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mattstaff
Mar 19, 2021 3:00 PM EDT

This dad decided to consult the moral judges of Reddit's AITA community to determine whether or not he was in the wrong after lying to his son about his bike being stolen, with the intention of teaching the kid a lesson. Some folks in the comments section are suggesting that his decision to lie like he did could result in his kid developing trust issues. While others seem to think that the dad wasn't in the wrong at all. 

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  • 01
    Font - AITA for pretending my son's bike was stolen to teach him a lesson? Not the A-hole My son Tim (9M) has a habit of leaving his bike outside when he's done playing with his friends for the day. It feels like my wife and I are constantly telling him to put the bike inside of the garage because it could be easily stolen and if/when that day comes we wouldn't simply buy him a new one, he'd have to earn it himself with extra chores and prove himself trustworthy with his belongings.
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 02
    Font - Well last week as I was leaving for work in the morning I saw that Tim had left the bike out again. Rather than talking about this for the umpteenth time I decided to show him that our warnings could actually happen. I threw the bike into the bed of my truck and took it to work with me. Upon finding his bike missing he was distraught. He called me crying asking if I had seen it when I left this morning and I told him "No, I didn't see it. Isn't this why we always tell you to put the bike
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 03
    Font - After work I brought the bike back home and told him that I found it abandoned in the neighborhood park and that we got lucky this time but wouldn't always be this lucky in the future and all seemed well. Later that night my wife was telling me that it was super lucky that I happened to find the bike and I told her that I had it the whole time and ran through what happened with her. She looked at me as if I was some kind of horrible monster. "Why would you put our son through that? And wh
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 04
    Font - 2 Awards NTA - You didn't trash the bike, you didn't throw or give away the bike, you just let your son see the consequences of his actions. Seems like he learned his lesson. Reply 4.3k ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 05
    Font - throwingdna · 1d · Partassipant [2] NTA Kids aren't going to learn if they're constantly coddled from reality. I think this was a really good way of making the lesson stick. One day of "oh no my bike is gone" isn't going to kill him. Especially since he got it back at the end of the day. In the grand scheme of things, this was a gentle way of teaching him. I had to learn the hard way to secure my things. I had an iPod stolen, but nobody gave that back to me at the end of the day. I just h
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 06
    Organism - Eh you should've told your wife - you essentially tricked her too. But as far as the bike goes that's A+ parenting in my book! There was no lasting harm done, you didn't emotionally scar him or anything, just scared him about losing one of his favorite possessions so now he will be more cautious with it. Sometimes a lesson doesn't sink in until you actually have to learn it yourself. NTA 820 3 G Reply ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 07
    Font - buttercupcake23 · 1d WHAT'S THE PLAN, PHIL? Seriously this is an actual episode of Modern Family. G Reply 4 70 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 08
    Font - laurakershaw • 1d • Certified Proctologist [28] NAH. Your intention was to teach your son the value of his bike. You unintentionally left your wife out because it was a quick decision, but it's done now, so apologize for a lack of communication to her and run things by her in the future. Personally I don't think it was a bad move as it seems he learned his lesson, but parenting should be the joint effort of both parents, especially when "punishing" or teaching children. G Reply 165 •..
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 09
    Smile - IsaacEndler • 1d · Partassipant [4] NTA. He's a kid that sounds like needs to experience something bad before he learns from it. You had control over the whole situation and he learned a valuable lesson about watching his own stuff G Reply 70 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 10
    Font - NTA. The plan worked. Your son learned his lesson. Job done. G Reply 43 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 11
    Rectangle - WTFISWRONGW-ME • 1d Nta You didn't pull a Malory Archer and not give it back.. so really it's a lesson not a punishment G Reply 1 13 ... +
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 12
    Smile - NTA As the parent of an 8 and a 10 year old, I think what you did was a great example of education. Experiencing something is the best way to learn something. G Reply 37 3 •..
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 13
    Rectangle - Positive-Dimension75 · 1d NTA...I would TOTALLY do this to my kid too. Nothing is more aggravating than talking to brick walls known as kids. As a parent, sometimes I get to set up some natural consequences in order to teach the lesson. This was perfect, imo. GReply з + ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 14
    Font - ylcv93 · 1d · Partassipant [1] You're NTA for doing it as he didn't seem to believe in the consequence until it actually happened. I think the only part I disagreed with was not including your wife. I know you said it was a last minute decision but giving her a quick call or text to fill her in could have avoided upsetting her as collateral damage. G Reply 28 3 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 15
    Font - thestubbornmilkmaid · 1d YTA. I see the point you were trying to make, but I strongly disagree with lying to your kid to teach them a lesson. It may have worked this time, but this type of parenting can easily backfire on you and erode trust you have with your kids, especially as they grow older. G Reply 1 65 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 16
    Organism - claw_caps · 1d YTA That's how you train a dog not a child, a punishment like taking the bike away for a time would have sufficed and you caused unnecessary stress to both your child and your wife, who you should have talked to before making that sort of decision. G Reply 1 10 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 17
    Font - heyabs • 1d I'm going with YTA simply because this is how your son will develop trust issues with you in the future. Reply 24 3 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 18
    Font - jpcats • 1d · Partassipant [3] NTA. Your son learned a lesson. G Reply ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 19
    Font - seraphineclementine • 1d NTA. He's got to learn somehow. G Reply ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 20
    Font - NTA, i did that as a kid and unlike your son i actually got my bike stolen and didn't get one for a few years after that. Hopefully now your son learned his lesson and will take better care of his bike G Reply
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 21
    Font - RAAYMELL • 1d YTA for putting him throught this when you could have solved the problem without lying to him. G Reply 4 4 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 22
    Font - No_Proposal7628 · 1d NTA. This was spur of the moment idea and it was a great idea! This is how a dad does it! You took it but returned it the same day. Was it sneaky and underhanded? Yes, but that can be a way to teach a kid a lesson that needs to be learned. It sounds like your son did learn to put away his bike finally. Your wife is wrong about this. You gave your son a good scare and it worked. She would have stopped you and you'd still be seeing the bike outside and in danger of bein
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 23
    Facial expression - Aggressive_Complex • 1d NTA you didn't sell it or trash it. You didn't do this for a gag you showed him what could happen in a controlled way. He now knows how easy it would be for someone to make off with his bike. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way G Reply 1 2 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 24
    Organism - MariContrary • 1d NAH. I get that your wife was upset - it's one thing to talk about theoretical theft, scary if it actually happens. You should have at least texted her to give her a heads up. That being said, BRILLIANT way of handling it. Your son got to keep his bike, and learned an important lesson in taking care of his things. G Reply Vote ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 25
    Font - CinnamonPumpkin13 · 1d Nta. Sometimes you need to learn the hard way. My uncle does this to my entitled spoiled cousins (theyre my other uncles kids). They learned real quick G Reply 1 2 3 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita
  • 26
    Font - NTA. This seems like a great way to teach him some responsibilities! You brought it back so no harm no foul! G Reply 1 Vote 3 ...
    via u/stolenbikeaita

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