Grandparent Torn After Giving Teens Different Birthday Gifts

A grandparent on Reddit is torn after gifting their teenage granddaughter a car for her birthday but only giving their grandson a new phone.

“My son Kyle has [two] kids. Jay (17) and Lia (16). They have different moms. Kyle is the every other weekend parent to Lia while he is very involved in Jay’s life,” the grandparent began their since-deleted post.

“For Jay’s 16th birthday I gave him a phone which I believe was a nice and generous gift,” they continued.

“A few days ago was Lia’s birthday. My other son Caleb adores Lia. He pretty much has a father-daughter relationship with her since Kyle is pretty much a deadbeat to her. Caleb informed me that he is planning to buy a secondhand car for her birthday and asked if I can contribute to the car as her birthday gift. I gave him [$4,000] to help him buy the car and Lia was overjoyed when she saw it,” the grandparent shared.

However, the girl’s dad was upset and accused them of giving a much more expensive present to his daughter than his son.

“Now Kyle thinks I was an a–hole for giving a more expensive gift to Lia while I think my gift to Jay was very generous and I didn’t do anything wrong,” they shared.

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In an update, the grandparent revealed they finally “decided what to do.”

“I sent the post to Caleb and a few minutes later his wife sent me the [$4,000] that I gave him. They told me to buy a phone for Lia so that I’m not treating them any differently,” they shared.

“So basically Lia will be getting a phone from me and a car from Caleb and his wife. I know this is not fair to Jay but I can’t control how they spend their money so it is what it is and I guess Lia will be much happier with this outcome,” they concluded.

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Readers were divided in the comments section of the post.

“…Favoritism can poison the relationship. And I would say it is favoritism since [$4,000] is a lot of money, while a phone in comparison is much cheaper,” one person wrote.

“You’re a loving, giving and generous grand[parent], therefore you are inherently NOT an a–hole,” another shared.

“Sure, a phone is an amazing gift. But compared to a car!? You clearly showed which one was your favorite,” someone else weighed in.

“You should be able to talk to Kyle and explain that you are giving more to Lia because she doesn’t have a present father. And this is the only way you feel you can make up for your son not handling his responsibilities,” another commented.