4-year-old nephew breaks 15-year-old's gaming console, parents complain when he asks them to replace it: 'That was $300 of my own money'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jul 6, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

It is an unfortunate reality of having or frequently being around kids that every so often, they are going to cause some damage to things. Sometimes they are too curious, other times too clumsy, and some of the time, they are just plain badly behaved. As a parent, it is more often than not a responsibility to replace or pay for things that your kids break, and if this is a common occurrence, it is probably time to think about ways to stop it happening so much.

Sadly, it is no secret that there are certain parents who are not interested in dealing with the consequences of a child's destructive streak. This can easily cause problems for the kid and the parents, especially if they are liable for damage to the property of family and friends. At its worst, these incidents can completely destroy relationships due to the level of entitlement.

Advertisement
  • 01

    AITA for wanting my brother or his girlfriend to buy me a new switch after their kid broke mine?

    I(15M)bought a new Nintendo switch. A week ago my brother(23M)and his gf(23F) stopped by to let their kid(4M)play since he has a lot of toys here. I was taking a shower when they got here so I didn't know they were here. My switch was on the livingroom couch charging. Now for context their son has really bad behavior problems. He flips out over everything and will scream and cry for hours. He also loves to break things for no reason. So overall a bad kid.
    via TryingToLearnSlovak
  • 02
    COLLECTION
    via Zach Wear

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • One teenager faced the difficulties of this kind of situation when his brother, his girlfriend, and their 4-year-old son paid a visit to the home of him and his mom. While he was in the shower, his nephew threw a tantrum about not being allowed to use his Nintendo Switch, and he broke it in retaliation.

    The young uncle was understandably angry about this and told their mom what had happened. She promised to pay to replace the console, but the teenager felt that it was the responsibility of his brother and sister-in-law. He wanted to be validated in his position.

  • 03
    from what my brother told me the kid had picked it up and one of his parents (not sure who) was trying to take it from him since he's rough with stuff and they didn't want him to break it. This set off the kid so he started screaming and crying. I heard this part while I was in the shower but I didn't think anything of it since he's always throwing tantrums. I figured my switch would be safe cus it's my apartment and I should be able to leave stuff out without fear of it getting broken.
    via TryingToLearnSlovak
  • 04
    So after I got out of the shower I walked into the living room and my brother has my switch next to him. Said switch has the screen all cracked and one of the joycons disconnected. obviously I'm ped and I ask what happened. Apparently the kid got mad that they wouldn't let him have it so he grabbed it and ran into the kitchen and threw it down and started stomping on it. Which is pretty on brand because he does the same thing with phones or other electronics when he can't have them. This kid is
    via TryingToLearnSlovak
  • 05
    I grabbed my switch and went to my room to text my mom because she was at work. So my mom calls me a while later on one of her breaks and is flipping out about it. As she should because that was 300$ of my own money. So she hangs up and calls my brother and is flipping out on him about it. I was still in my room so idk what exactly she said. They ended up leaving with their kid.
    via TryingToLearnSlovak
  • 06
    Then my mom came home and suddenly her attitude has completely switched. She's telling me that she'll buy me a new one when she gets the money and how the kid didn't mean it and he didn't know. And I'm still pred so I ask her why my brother or his gf can't replace it and she makes excuses about how my brother doesn't work and he doesn't have alot of money. THE REASON HE DOESNT HAVE MONEY IS CUS HES A 1 AND WONT GET A JOB AND SELLS W D. His girlfriend works at a taco truck so obviously between th
    via TryingToLearnSlovak
  • 07
    Cheezburger Image 10525635584
    via Kelly Sikkema
  • 08

    Commenters agreed that he deserved this replacement.

    FootlongDonut You are owed a new Switch. If your mom decides to pay for it you can be p but you have been compensated appropriately. ed off
    via FootlongDonut
  • 09
    shirleydmsvft65 It s ks that mom's bailing them out, but at least you're not stuck with nothing. Still wild that a 4-year-old caused that much damage in 10 minutes flat dude went full WWE on your Switch.
    via shirleydmsvft65
  • 10
    USS-Virginia I mean NTA but this seems more like its about you wanting your brother and nephew to finally be held accountable than anything else. Your mom is replacing it on their behalf so at least theres that.
    via USS-Virginia
  • 11
    BigBigBig Tree You can't squeeze bl d from a turnip. Yes, you deserve to be made whole, but if the money isn't there right now it's just not. Nobody is gonna let their kid go hungry or skip a rent payment to buy you a new switch, even if you deserve a new one right away. Which, to be clear, you do... but sometimes what you deserve doesn't really matter. You deserve a new one ASAP, but if they don't have the money they don't have the money. They could easily buy me a new one if my brother stopped
    via BigBigBigTree
  • 12
    Trying ToLearnSlovak OP ur right about cutting her slack but this has been happening for YEARS. My brother and his gf f and she's the one who fixes it. Can't pay a bill? My mom pays the entire thing. Need to have their car fixed because they refused to listen to her when the problem wasn't as serious? She's the one buying the stuff to fix it because otherwise the car would never get fixed. One year my mom bought almost all of their kids presents because they were constantly saying they would ord
    via TryingToLearnSlovak
  • 13
    TheDarkHelmet1985 NTA and this is the kind of stuff that destroys family relationships. Without consequences, the kid and your brother will always get away with their BS and your mom will always find ways to excuse their BS behavior. Until you are able to to leave that house, you are always going to be told to deal with it, he is just 4. Or deal with it, they have a young difficult child at home. Or deal with it, he doesn't have a job. Or deal with it bc.... I hate this type of stuff. Victim is
    via TheDarkHelmet1985
  • 14
    Regular_Boot_3540 They're adults, and they're responsible for the kids. They need to buy you a new Switch.
    via Regular_Boot_3540
  • 15
    NTA Wise_Session_5370 Your brother and his partner owe you a new Switch. Absolutely no two ways about it. I don't care how rich or poor they are, or what they do for a living. They owe you a new one. When your child damages or destroys another person's property through bad behaviour, you pay for it. You don't argue, you apologise and pay up. And yes, you replace new for old. The fact that this was paid for with your own money at the age of 15 makes this even more egregious. There is some bad par
    via Wise_Session_5370
  • 16
    National Pension_110 NTA but know this: your mom will ALWAYS take the side of the worthless of a son and the equally worthless gf and their kid, who clearly needs counseling. Consider this a $300 lesson to NEVER leave anything unlocked, even for a minute. Buy yourself a trunk and get a good keyed (not combination) lock. Put all of your stuff that you value-clothing, games, electronics, anything sentimental-and keep it under your bed. Then, get tf out of that house as soon as you possibly can. Kn
    via National_Pension_110
  • 17
    SolmaRedditUserNow This is a pretty obvious no brainer NTA. I don't know how much that matters, but obviously this kinda kills the relationship with your brother and his kid. e.g. there should be no watching/babysitting, there will be no sharing of anything you own with him, basically kinda shuts down everything.
    via SolmaRedditUserNow
  • 18
    No_Confidence5235 NTA but since your mother already enables your brother's laziness it's no surprise that she's making it seem like this is no big deal now.
    via No_Confidence5235
  • 19
    Conscious_Bet_2005 NTA. 1) Go NC with your bro because he won't take accountability. He's a . Him and his girlfriend sound crazy and like they're just making excuses for their bad a kid. 2) warning- do not ever be alone with the child and do not ever agree to babysit.
    via Conscious_Bet_2005
  • 20
    teaonthetardis NTA but unfortunately if your mom wants to bail your brother out, it's (mostly) none of your business. You can recognize the poor parenting at play (two generations of it, actually) but while you can remove yourself from these situations as often as possible, you can't step in and parent your older brother or someone else's kid. What is your business is that someone must replace your switch. "When she gets the money" is the part that has me a concerned-are we talking in a week? Mo
    via teaonthetardis
  • 21
    No_Age_4267 I disagree OP has every right to want the brother to pay than the mom because i guarantee she will make up every excuse not to pay plus she pays all his brothers bills
    via No_Age_4267
  • 22
    akiomaster NTA, but... Just let your mom buy a new one. Yes, your brother should do it, but that's likely not going to happen. Your mom is trying to make sure you aren't completely wronged here.
    via akiomaster
  • 23
    Vivid Morning_8282 NTA! Most people want these things corrected even when accidents happen. Also your brother definitely needs to learn some discipline since he let his kid break your $300 piece of property. He does not sound like a great parent.
    via Vivid_Morning_8282
  • 24
    CremeComfortable7915 Their child isn't acting out like this for no reason. They're failing him horribly. Some people should NEVER become parents. If your mom wants to enable their behavior then let her pay for a new switch. Hopefully she doesn't back out of paying.
    via CremeComfortable7915

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

family entitled people aita teenager kids brother nintendo switch gaming parenting reddit thread Reddit nephew
Scroll Down For The Next Article