Mom allows her 13-year-old daughter's friend to spend $100 on Roblox gift cards for her and her daughter, doesn't ask her daughter's friend's mom for permission: 'Why would her mom do that?'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Dec 30, 2025 11:00 AM EST

She should never let her have a play date at their house again. 

A good rule of thumb when deciding whether to let your kid hang out with another kid without you supervising is not to agree to a hangout before you've met the other kid's parents. You might not be able to tell everything from a brief interaction with little Billy's mom, but if you have an implicit feeling that you can't trust her with your kid, you shouldn't let him have a sleepover at her place. 

You can't control what another parent does in their house, so allowing your kid to spend time at someone else's without your supervision isn't a small decision. Many parents forbid sleepovers and playdates at other houses altogether, fearing the worst. While that's one way of mitigating risk, a better way might be to become friends with your kid's friend's parents. If you can hang with your kid's best friend's mom, and make her your best friend in turn, then you can all hang out together, and neither parent is sitting around at home worrying about what could possibly be happening without their knowledge. 

There are levels to crossing a line when you're watching over someone else's kid. Is it wrong to serve your friend's kid macaroni and cheese when they're not allowed to eat it at their house because their mom thinks it's unhealthy? As a parent, would you serve it without asking the kids' parents' permission first? Would you request permission if you had already made the food and the kid didn't tell you that it was forbidden in their household until after they'd taken their first bite? It isn't always an easy question to answer, but when it comes to other people's children, I would almost always err on the side of caution. 

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  • The mom in this story, who supervised the hangout between her 13-year-old daughter and her friend, made some questionable decisions, primarily letting her daughter's friend spend $100 on Roblox gift cards for her and her daughter.

  • Two smiling women playing video games on couch
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Am I the bad guy for confronting my daughters friends mom?

    My daughter is 13 and her grandparents gave her $100 to put away. So at this point I am unaware this even happened. My daughter asked to go spend the night at her friend's house and I
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • agreed. When she got home she told me about the $100 her grandparents gave her and also told me she spent it. I asked her on what, she said $50 roblox for her and $50 for her friend.
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • I asked her why did she do that and she said so it would be fair. I asked her how she turned the $100 into robox. She said she gave the $100 to her friends mom and she got my daughter a $50 roblox card with it and her
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • A laptop with a screen
    via Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • daughter a $50 roblox card with it. My daughter and I had a long discussion on the way she spent her money. My daughter said that she instantly regretted doing it right after she gave her mom the money.
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • A woman is holding a wallet and money
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • In my mind I am thinking why would her mom do that? If the situation was the other way around id never take a 13 year old $100 and split it between her daughter and mine for roblox, that just wouldn't happen. So I
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • contacted my daughters friends mom and said this.... "Hi, (My daughters name) told me about the Roblox cards the girls got yesterday. I love that she wanted to be generous, but
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • I'm actually trying to teach her a bit more about budgeting her gift money, so I would've preferred she didn't spend it all at once. I had no idea she brought that money with her. Next time they're hanging out
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • and want to make a big purchase, would you mind giving me a quick heads-up first? | | know they are just being girls but $100 on Roblox is not something we would have allowed her to do"
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • .... she never responded AITAH for messaging my daughters friends mom?
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • camkats No nta that woman took advantage so she didn't have to pay for her own daughter
    via u/camkats
  • OP Read_It_Dude Thats what I kinda thought. If my daughters friend was here I would have only allowed $20 for each girl. And the $20 on my daughters account would have came out of my pocket. I would never have allowed my daughters friend to pay for my daughters roblox
    via u/Read_It_Dude
  • Optimal-Spinach6974 You are NTA. To me, it's shocking that her friend's mother would do something like that. She owes your daughter $50.
    via u/Optimal-Spinach6974
  • Fair Theme_9388 NTA, and I wouldn't be letting my daughter hang out at her friend's house anymore. What kind of adult takes money from a child? ETA- Her mom not responding to your text makes it even worse. She knew exactly what she was doing and probably thought you wouldn't find out.
    via u/Fair_Theme_9388
  • Electrical-Regret500 Nta, that woman literally scammed your daughter
    via u/Electrical-Regret500
  • Beautiful_Arm8364 NTA. This is less a "confrontation" than it is a pretty logical communication from parent to parent. I would, however, have a word with her grandparents about giving her that much money without letting you know. That can turn into a problem pretty easily.
    via u/Beautiful_Arm8364
  • splitex12 NTA- you worded your text to friends mom very politely and calmly and I think you handled that with your daughter just fine as well at the end of the day lesson learned and your daughter will be more mindful of her money in the future and I think the friends mom didn't wanna be the one to tell your daughter she wasn't spending her money wisely just some parents don't want to cause issues by telling other people's kids what to do but her not responding is kinda immature
    via u/splitex12
  • Muayrunner Are you sure she wanted to gift yhe $50? Her saying it needed to be even makes me think the friend or mother talked her into this arrangement. It sounds like a good lesson for your daughter.
    via u/Muayrunner
  • NTA Simple Apartment3279 Your message wasn't accusatory at all and sounded pretty well worded. Some people just don't respond to texts in a timely manner. And if she did read it, maybe she made a mental note. I would say though if something like that happens again, your daughter shouldn't be allowed to go over there again.
    via u/ Simple_Apartment3279
  • Big-Glass176 Your friends mom is a shit.
    via u/Big-Glass176
  • MangoSaintJuice NTA I wouldn't let my child hang anyone who's parent pulls that shit, don't let her go back to that friend's house.
    via u/MangoSaintJuice

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gift card teenagers friends bad parenting roblox grandparents video games daughter mom money
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