sister furious at me and DD over DD's prank

[namechangedfri29]

I feel mortified and I don't know what to do or tell DSIS to try and make things better between us.

My DSIS' son is 18 years old and has recently started taking driving lessons. He's got a 10-year-old little sister.

My DD is also 18 years old and very close to DNephew.

My nephew has recently entered an online "raffle" type of competition in the hope of winning a car.

Now, here's the problem. My DD thought it would be funny to pull a prank on her cousin and offer her 10 year old cousin to join along.
From my understanding, they sent a text message from a what seems to be a fake number generated by an online app. The text message was sent to my nephew and congratulated him for winning the car and asked him to come get it from the raffle company's office as soon as possible.
It was only once they were about to go in the car that DD and my niece told them all about the joke.

My DSIS and BIL are now furious at their daughter, my daughter and myself.

It was stupid, she's apologised I don't get all the 'cruel' accusations been thrown about.

As an aside though I aree with a pp, an 18yr old really needs to get a grip on what to believe online or via texts. He'll be sending all his savings to a scammer next.

[I'll try quoting the right post, sorry @namechangedfri29 ]

Well, yeah, it was slightly tongue-in-cheek but I guess you missed that.

It was a horrid thing to do though.

So DSIS was about to take your nephew to collect the car? I think your DSIS feels stupid for believing it too!

I mean to me a 'cruel' prank would be telling a 5yr old they'd won a holiday to Disneyland. I just can't quite get past an 18yr old believing a text that he'd won a car and his dm was about to take him to pick it up. Are they all a bit naive?

Can’t get over the responses on here. It was a prank, it wasn’t very cruel, no one lost any money and no body was injured. I think your sister and nephew are just a bit embarrassed is all. Clearly your daughter is excellent at pranking and your nephew is a total plank for believing it!
No way you should be paying for driving lessons or giving out harsh punishment to your DD like pp suggest. Seems like the message got through to your DD that it was a bit of a step too far (maybe she just led him on a little too long and should’ve let him know sooner it was a joke). Get some posh biscuits in, get everyone over for a cuppa (apologise again if you need too) and don’t allow this to be something that stops great cousin and family relationships. It’s really not that big a deal!

What led you to deduce that?!! He entered a competition to win one - he didn't nick it!!

I'd be absolutely furious if one of my kids did that - it's so mean and so cruel!! An 18 year old should have more bloody sense!

Don't you have some truth to be off out seeking, lovely?

This isn't even that bad. It's just two teens who prank each other! Parents furious and teens crying over this drivel? My god imagine if something terrible really does happen in their life? How will they cope? Snowflakes.

That's cruel, not at all funny and is really horrible behaviour. I would be shocked at your daughter's idea of a joke & treatment of her supposedly close cousin. If I was your sister, I'd be bloody angry too. Horrible, horrible, horrible & I hope your daughter is now very ashamed of herself.

Your DD is an arsehole

Really? They're kids.

@namechangedfri29 One hour? Tell them to get over themselves.

If he hadn’t entered a competition to win one then yes it would be odd to believe it but as he did enter a competition it’s not that far fetched to think he had won. Either way pranks are generally stupid as the aim of a prank is to fool someone or make them look/feel stupid and foolish. Not a fan and could never be with a prankster.

I think she probably is able to show how she feels with you as her sister and at the moment is upset and angry. But I can't see this lasting long because it isn't you that did something wrong and you both agree your daughter is at fault here. She probably feels unable to show her full anger with someone else's child and therefore needs to show it to you instead. I would just give it time but also maybe suggest to DD that she either speaks to her cousin about how to make it right, or tries to do something to show she cares.

Really?

Why?

This is such a ridiculous non-issue. She faked winning a car, not a dream university placement.

😂😂😂 that's a massive reach

God there's some overeacting on here. It was a stupid prank between cousins, hardly the work of the next Ted Bundy. I think the degree of 'cruelty' depends how much of this banter usually goes on between the 2 of them and whether they usually see the funny side. Either way your DD needs to say sorry and your DS/DN need to get a grip and get over it. There's F all you can really do to force an 18YO to do the right thing so God knows why your DS is even involving you

At 18 your daughter should have known this is cruel and unfair.

I don’t get why your sister is mad at you though? Unless you’ve not properly spoken to your daughter about how cruel it was?

It was only once they were about to go in the car that DD and my niece told them all about the joke

I think the fact it got this far is really awful. She waited until they were going to collect it after he has told everyone he won a car. In saying that I don't get why she is so annoyed at you, your daughter is an adult, not a child. This is on her.

What an unkind thing to do.

I hope he doesn’t get a phone call saying he’s won the car for real. He’d never believe them now.

What I find really hilarious is that half the posters go, don't punish her, she after all she's an adult, and the other, oh she's just a kid. So which one is it?

Maybe for him the worth is the sane and it was a dream car?