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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Did we ruin daughter by spoiling

378 replies

Daringbear · 17/07/2023 16:11

Hi,
First of all I'm going to be quite vulnerable and I know this is my own doing so please be nice, even if harsh.
My only daughter is 17, she is 18 at the start of August. She was an incredibly wanted child, my husband and I had been trying for 6 years, several miscarriages, failed IVF rounds, it was emotionally the hardest time of my life. When our daughter was born 5 weeks early, and so desperately wanted all we wanted to do was spoil her. We were 35 and 38 by the time she was born, we had 6 extra years of career advancement so were in a financially good place and could spoil her. We knew we wouldn't have more children so we really put it all into our girl. She was also 5 years younger than her closest in age cousin, of which she only has 3 and all boys, so being the only girl and youngest she was also massively spoilt by grandparents. My husband and I aren't massively social people, we had two close friends who were in similar positions and kids a little older. We live in a town where most people are comfortable financially, the house prices are much higher than the rest of the region, so all of daughters socialising have been with children similar to her.
She was also among the youngest in her year, I was terrified she would feel less than etc. so we pushed our financial limits for piano lessons, ballet, tennis, vocal coaching etc. The best schools in our area were state schools so there wasn't that but we did cripple ourselves financially to ensure she never had to struggle, tutors too from about year 5.
Now to the current point my daughter is due to start university in September and increasingly as I view her more and more as an adult I realise she isn't very likeable, she isn't lazy, she is always busy but never doing anything of worth, we told her to get a summer job, she looked for a day said they sounded boring and gave up, my husband still gives her, an allowance, refuses to stop and I find it impossible to be mad at her. So her summer has been spent shopping, enjoying the sun, playing sports, being with friends, going to the gym etc. nothing actually useful. She also has expensive taste and the only way I can describe it is she comes across snobby, she will talk down to me if she thinks my clothes are cheap etc.
She was very popular in school and sixth form, always had loads of friends and her reputation amongst them seems different than the girl I know. For the year book they got random people in the year to comment on the person and several of my daughters were about her being nice/friendly.
The other issue which is pretty new, she is a massive flirt!! She is very naturally pretty, tall, slim, blonde etc. and she is definitely not afraid to flaunt this. I hate it, she can come across very shallow. She will blatantly flirt with waiters etc. even Infront of me, it turns my stomach.
If I were to sum her up I'd use words like, smart, beautiful and eloquent but also shallow, snobby, stuck up and narcissistic. I hate that these are words I'd want to use.
My husband doesn't see it, still spoils her, has just bought her the most expensive tickets for Taylor Swift and a stupidly expensive laptop, whenever DD asks for money he hands it over, will never tell her off. Prides himself on being a cool dad etc.
I was talking to one of her friends mums when we were waiting to pick them up at the station and she asked if I could have a word with her as my daughter told her daughter she should work out more and she is going to get fat and that obviously upset her daughter. I spoke to my girl and she apologised but the fact she said it all horrifies me. My husband said he didn't see the issue.
I don't know what to do, I feel like I have failed and ruined her!! It was all done is pure love and wanting nothing but the best for her and now she isn't a nice person!!
AIBU to feel like I don't like her? If she wasn't my daughter I wouldn't want to be her friend. What do I do? Can I make this better?

OP posts:
YukoandHiro · 17/07/2023 17:53

Yeah she's 17 and has the good (perhaps mixed) fortune to be pretty at that age. She thinks she's the nuts. But life will take her down a peg or two, there's no need for you to do it for her.
Expectation that she gets a job is fair though. Summer isn't over; the schools haven't even broken up yet. I would push that. I suspect most of her friends will be working and won't have any time for her anyway so she'll need something to do.

Hereinthismoment · 17/07/2023 17:53

That’s the only example the OP could cite in seventeen years though @Autoflower . I don’t think she should have said it but depending on the context it probably wasn’t that bad. Paragraphs and paragraphs of her being nice, having friends. One tactless comment does not make a narcissist!

I do find though that MN generally is quite weird about teenagers: there’s a lot of bitterness about bullying and I really noticed over covid how the ‘well I didn’t get my prom’ brigade came out. I think a lot of posters had unhappy times as adolescents and see being unkind about teens now as a way of redressing that. That’s not aimed at anyone here, it’s a general point. A pretty girl not wanting to sweat her arse off in McDonald’s over the summer is enough to get some raging.

HeliosSol · 17/07/2023 17:54

This is not an average teen. We are wealthy and have a very beautiful, very intelligent seventeen year old daughter with loads of lovely friends. She is anything but shallow because we have brought her up with values that go beyond the superficial. You have failed but university will redress the situation that your style of parenting has created. And please stop blaming your husband. Parenting is a partnership and you have been complicit for seventeen years.

sunglassesonthetable · 17/07/2023 17:55

Telling a peer that she needs to work out more?

Anything else ? Or just that? She's got friends and she's popular. She's good a relationships.

I think we need a bit more than one stupid comment that she apologised for.

wehavelostsightofwhatanormalhoodiesizeis · 17/07/2023 17:56

amberisola · 17/07/2023 17:45

Lol. If you think that's normal then your own kids must be just as spoilt and nasty. There's nothing normal about it, sorry.

If you think it's normal for a mother to call her own daughter "shallow, snobby, stuck up and narcissistic" and resent her for being attractive and behaving like an average popular teenager, I fear for your children.

It's normal to tell your kids to take it down a notch, or several notch, but a normal parent is happy to have a healthy, attractive and happy teen! Not jealous and bitter about it.

Yonderway · 17/07/2023 17:56

She sounds like a normal 17 year old.
My children didn't work the summer before going to university.
They are both nice, responsible caring people

BoardingSchoolApologist · 17/07/2023 17:56

I wouldn't worry too much, OP. When she goes to university, she will encounter other very spoilt young people, some of whom will have been to ridiculously expensive schools and will look down on her for having been to a state school. So quite apart from having her arse handed to her by the less well off and less spoilt, she will also have it handed to her by the better off and even more spoilt. They all shake down in the end.

The one thing I would pick her up on is commenting on your appearance/clothes. That would earn a very sharp rebuke from me.

WildUnchartedWaters · 17/07/2023 17:56

wehavelostsightofwhatanormalhoodiesizeis · 17/07/2023 17:43

You didn’t misread. I have no idea what this girl is doing that’s so terrible. I’ll risk deletion and admit I think it’s a reverse or made up, but the responses aren’t and the number of people just dying to see a nice looking teenager have a terrible time is a bit worrying!

I agree with you.

Her crime seems to be young and attractive, popular, and making the most of generous parents.

Shock horror.

Agreed

Zebedee55 · 17/07/2023 17:57

sunglassesonthetable · 17/07/2023 17:55

Telling a peer that she needs to work out more?

Anything else ? Or just that? She's got friends and she's popular. She's good a relationships.

I think we need a bit more than one stupid comment that she apologised for.

Yes, it's all a bit Drama Llama. 17 year olds can be pithy, because they don't think of the impact of words. Still seems very normal. It'll pass.

SilverGlitterBaubles · 17/07/2023 17:57

Teenagers are inherently self centred however it would do her the world of good to get a part time job or to volunteer before university and/ or while at university.

wehavelostsightofwhatanormalhoodiesizeis · 17/07/2023 17:58

friends mums when we were waiting to pick them up at the station and she asked if I could have a word with her as my daughter told her daughter she should work out more and she is going to get fat and that obviously upset her daughter.

and since when do mothers of 17 year old get involved in kids fall out? Who has a word with someone because the other teen has been "mean" to their own? 😂

Orangetreexherry · 17/07/2023 17:58

BoardingSchoolApologist · 17/07/2023 17:56

I wouldn't worry too much, OP. When she goes to university, she will encounter other very spoilt young people, some of whom will have been to ridiculously expensive schools and will look down on her for having been to a state school. So quite apart from having her arse handed to her by the less well off and less spoilt, she will also have it handed to her by the better off and even more spoilt. They all shake down in the end.

The one thing I would pick her up on is commenting on your appearance/clothes. That would earn a very sharp rebuke from me.

🎯

sunglassesonthetable · 17/07/2023 17:59

Lol. If you think that's normal then your own kids must be just as spoilt and nasty. There's nothing normal about it, sorry.

Blimey. After that? Please.

Explain your expertise again.

Hereinthismoment · 17/07/2023 17:59

SilverGlitterBaubles · 17/07/2023 17:57

Teenagers are inherently self centred however it would do her the world of good to get a part time job or to volunteer before university and/ or while at university.

See I don’t think it would. I’ve nothing against teens working, but equally I don’t think it’s necessary as some sort of character building exercise. She’s done her A levels, I just think let her chill for a bit.

Work isn’t always a positive thing, especially not for young people.

honeylulu · 17/07/2023 17:59

To be honest she doesn't sound that awful. You started by saying you don’t think she's likeable but it seems she has lots of friends, was very popular at school and has been out a lot playing sport and socialising so clearly plenty of people do like her! Her comment to her friend was unpleasant but teens are often self absorbed and tactless without thinking. She did apologise. I wonder how her comment came about. I have a friend who constantly moans that she can't lose weight but isn't willing to do anything about it. I bite my tongue but at age 17 I might have blurted out "just eat less and stop moaning" before I could help myself.
The material spoiling is more of an issue. Of course she doesn't fancy getting a summer job if daddy pays for everything she wants. I don't know what to suggest there as you've spoken to him and he has carried on anyway. I was a bit spoilt in my youth but my god once I had to fund my own treats it was a great motivator to find a work ethic! It's a real shame when people don't. I actually found I loved working and ended up with a decent career. Does your husband not want her to be independent one day?

sunglassesonthetable · 17/07/2023 18:01

I think it's Mum who has a few things to work through tbh.

Backstreets · 17/07/2023 18:02

She’s only 17. I was a brat at 17 and I was pure skint and minging.

That said, I will never understand why parents think their children should be grateful and humble they had everything their parents did not. They’ve got literally nothing but their own life to compare with and yes, they will take that life for granted.

Tumbleweed101 · 17/07/2023 18:02

I think with jobs they need a motivator. My children have had a very different upbringing as I'm a single parent and can't afford indulgences. However I have been paying my 17yo driving lessons because she hasn't been able to find a job since Xmas (rural location so hard to get places). However she is taking her test in August and I've made it clear once she takes the test she's on her own with any retakes, getting a car and paying insurance and she's suddenly found a job lol. She wants to drive now and wants the freedom of a car. I think teens step up as soon as they want something that won't be provided.

Sugargliderwombat · 17/07/2023 18:04

I mean...I was poor and I still was a judgemental dick at 17.

WhatWhereWhenHowWhy · 17/07/2023 18:04

You are being really harsh on yourself.
However I would be giving her a telling about the comments to her friend and her sense of entitlement

No more fancy gifts, no more big allowance. Your husband needs to back you on this and stop being 'cool dad' so that you don't end up as the bad guy. United front and a reality check about how most people live.

Unless she plans to live in an elite sphere for the rest of her life, other people will do the rest of this work and she may get some horrible shocks.

sunglassesonthetable · 17/07/2023 18:05

mean...I was poor and I still was a judgemental dick at 17.

😂😂😂😂👍🏻

Hereinthismoment · 17/07/2023 18:05

sunglassesonthetable · 17/07/2023 18:01

I think it's Mum who has a few things to work through tbh.

We might well get a different perspective from the daughter, who would explain that her mum insisted on her wearing designer clothes as a child but now criticises when the DD chooses designer clothes, she’s been forced to have private tutoring several times a week since she was ten years old but now is being pushed into getting a job after she exhausted herself during her a levels, made one thoughtless comment to a friend which she immediately regretted and apologised for but mum won’t stop bringing up and endlessly tries to butt in if dad does anything nice for her.

Or not. It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?

BUT she’s blonde and pretty, went to a state school. Haterz gonna hate!

Dixiechickonhols · 17/07/2023 18:06

Main issue is you and dh not on same page re financial side.
I’d encourage a job and volunteering as it does them good - different skills, out of comfort zone, mixing with new people and is good for cv.
As for the rest it sounds like she’s had a nice comfortable life and has friends and is popular. Nothing you’ve said sounds terrible (my dd is 17)

Brightandshining · 17/07/2023 18:06

I think you are being a bit harsh here. Most teenagers are quite self absorbed and niave whilst thinking they have all the answers. Shes had no life experiences yet really. If most of her friends say she's nice and friendly she can't be that bad of a girl. She'll go out into the world and have real life experiences and it will wear the arrogance and snobbishness off of her hopefully. Honestly I know teens from much ropier financial backgrounds who are just as snobby about clothing and come across just as narcissistic... dont think that this is all about the things you have done for her. You cant love a child too much... you dont ruin a child by being kind. You've probably very much sheltered her from some of the harsher realities of life but she will come across these anyway and at least she has a strong background where she was cherished to support her through. You spoil a child by giving them objects in lui of real love and support... not just by giving them a lovely life alongside love and support. You watch her become a better person as she matures because im very sure she will.

wehavelostsightofwhatanormalhoodiesizeis · 17/07/2023 18:08

Sugargliderwombat · 17/07/2023 18:04

I mean...I was poor and I still was a judgemental dick at 17.

At least you grew up, if you spend enough time on MN, you will realise that many people do not grow out of that stage 😂