I Punched My Step-Daughter When She Played A Prank On Me r/Relationships

[00:00:01] Hey Waffle Gang, I do hope you're well. My name is Mark and today we're checking out some more Reddit Stories. And if you do love a Reddit Story, why not consider hitting the like, subscribe, maybe that notification bell too. And let's crack on with today's first story. Much love guys. Now today's first story comes from prankuser2046 from the Am I the Arsehole here subreddit. It may be a story that you've heard in the past, but there's a new update to it as well. So if you do want to skip certain parts of the story, please feel free to do so.

[00:00:31] Timestamps are always down in the description and along the timeline below. You cheeky so and so. Now let's get started. It's titled Am I the Arsehole here for punching my stepdaughter after she played a prank on me that scared me. I know the title sounds bad, but please read and throw away plus fake names.

[00:00:50] I 38 male married Judd 44 female a few years ago, and I acquired a stepdaughter, Abby 14 female as a result. I dated Judd when Abby was eight, met her when she was nine and married Judd when Abby was 10. I'd say our relationship is okay. She doesn't act bratty towards me and respects me enough as her mom's husband. However, there is one glaring issue about her and that is her pranking nature.

[00:01:19] Abby loves to pull pranks. Some examples are her hiding my car keys with what looked like a hundred dubs in a box. Or is it like duds or something? I found them quickly because she failed to notice my keys have duct tape on them. Another one is when she hid in the fridge, something I still find very weird to scare the first person who opened it.

[00:01:40] Well, last Wednesday I arrived home and it seemed that I was the only one there. Only my shoes were at the doorstep and I even called out Judd's and Abby's names with no answer. This is somewhat normal as Judd sometimes works late and Abby stays at school for extracurriculars. So, I screwed around with my dog. A German Shepherd and Husky mix for anyone that will ask. For a bit and then I decided to relieve myself. When I got to the bathroom I noticed that the window cabinet was open.

[00:02:08] I thought nothing of it at first and unzipped my pants but then I saw a shadow behind the shower curtains. I thought the worst and immediately punched the figure behind the curtains. Well, as everyone may have guessed it from the title, it was Abby. She was making a prank video and had not noticed that she propped her phone up on the bathroom cabinet with two cups. I'm not going to lie, I did not hold back. I punched her as hard as I could. Her nose looked broken and when I realized it, I flipped out and so did she.

[00:02:38] After maybe five minutes of freaking out, I drove her to urgent care and informed Judd of the situation. Her nose was indeed broken and would need six to twelve weeks of recovery. Abby won't talk to me and as for Judd, she thinks that my action may have been justified but also thinks I should have approached with more caution. Which she refused to elaborate on. So, am I the arsehole here? Original Nightmare says this one, not the arsehole. Get a copy of the video.

[00:03:07] If Abby starts bitching to people about how her stepdad broke her nose, you are looking at jail time. Get and keep a copy of the evidence that she startled you while you were peeing. You need to sit Judd and Abby down and have a serious conversation. Filming without consent while someone is in the bathroom is a massive invasion of privacy and illegal in many places. If she did this to another kid, it could be considered child, you know. While you're in the bathroom, you feel vulnerable with having your pants down and genitals out.

[00:03:36] Those feelings increase the fight and flight part of the brain and that you reacted on instinct. Please include to Abby that you love her and never meant to hurt her. Lemony says, And why would a young girl think pranking her stepfather in the bathroom is ever a good idea? She should at least be talked to about about pranking anyone in the bathroom, especially with a video. No Scarcity says, This is so unfortunate. People get killed for this shit. She's lucky she's alive. That's a normal reaction.

[00:04:06] As messed up this is. Stick firm because this is a life lesson. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. Fortunately, it's all on tape, right? So you're protected. What she did is actually what's unforgivable. Her dumb antics are gonna get someone killed or put in jail. Her mother needs to address this. Not one more prank. Ever. Pride of Cape Town says, How stupid does a 14-year-old have to be to not know that recording someone in the bathroom without their consent is a very bad idea?

[00:04:34] And what was this stupid prank? Boo. I scared you, so I'm gonna put your reaction and pee-pee on social media. Not the arsehole. You might want to get a legal advice lawyer before a false and more sinister version gets circulated. Not so average sister says, As a teacher, I can say that 14-year-olds are very uninformed. I had a 14-year-old once who took 30 minutes to go to the bathroom. When he finally came back because he was a kid who didn't usually cause trouble and I was worried,

[00:05:02] I privately asked what the heck took so long. His response? I was waiting for people to leave the bathroom. I still didn't get it, so he elaborated. If you use a stall, you're probably trying to go to number two or do something that you need privacy for. And other people will see your feet under the stall and try to film you by putting their phones over the walls of the stall. I started requiring that students trade their phones for the hall pass after that. Also the administration, but they didn't do anything. Point is, yes, teenagers are.

[00:05:31] That uninformed, that behavior like this doesn't click as being problematic. Not the arsehole. Or I was in that same situation. I was that kid once. I went to the toilet. I think it was during like a break time or something like that. And the toilets were usually like empty. And this is when I was about 10 years old. Just joined that year. Was still pretty nervous finding my way around and stuff and decided that I was desperate. I didn't usually go at school because, you know, who wants to go in a school toilet? But it was desperate times.

[00:05:59] So I went, was in the cubicle and it was exactly like a commenter pointed out. It was a cubicle where you could see feet. Big gap. And then there was multiple cubicles in a row. I was just sitting there minding my own business and then looked up. And there was another kid just staring at me from above. And when I spotted him, just ran. No phone or anything like that, but was just staring. And I thought, oh my God, do I actually report that? Is that the right thing to report? You know, my brain at the time, 10 years old. I don't know. Do you report it?

[00:06:28] I ended up telling a friend that was like, absolutely. You tell someone about that. And the guy was a year eight. So maybe 13 years old or something like that. And I think he ended up with a detention. I'm not sure if anything else happened to him. But, you know, it was a freaky moment. Anyway, OP came in with her update and said, well, this blew up big time. Let's address a few things. Abby's pranking nature isn't just situated on me. She's pulled pranks on her friends, the neighbors and at school.

[00:06:55] The school has called Judd several times about this as they've resulted in mild vandalism. The refrigerator prank. She was 11 when that happened. Not a grown teenager. It was a brand new and very large fridge that my uncle bought and showed it off to everyone. So she climbed in until he opened it again. Judd yelled at her saying that she could have suffocated in there and took her outside to scold her for a few hours. The video itself. The video doesn't show the toilet at all, just the shower curtain.

[00:07:23] However, the issue still remains that this was a massive invasion of privacy. The video has been deleted and Abby has admitted it was purely her fault. The update. It's been a chaotic week. Judd still refused to elaborate on how the situation should have been handled. I showed the post as a result and she did a 180 turn. She suddenly thought it may be time to stage an intervention. And I agreed. We brought some of her friends as well as my cousin's wife, Jess. Jess is an officer from another state and Abby seemed to respect her.

[00:07:53] In this intervention, we state that how we're each affected by her various pranks and how in turn they affected her. Jess also spoke about how much of these pranks border on criminal territory, meaning she could be arrested or face retaliation. It seemed to have gotten to her and Abby cried a bit and promised to do better. When everybody else left, Jess stayed behind and brought to our attention about a disciplinary camp that we could send her to.

[00:08:18] The program is six weeks long and involves group therapy, individual therapy and constructive projects, whatever that means, and is held at a university campus. The program apparently has good reviews. Judd seems dead set in sending her to figure out her core problems. I'm a little hesitant about sending a kid away from home, but I'm the step-parent so I got no say. Edit and update. Okay, I swear Judd must be following my post because now she's taking back what she said

[00:08:47] and is now thinking about doing what I and you fellow redditors suggested in the first place, weekly therapy. So we agreed that I'm going to find a therapist and I'm going to front the bill for it since she didn't take this seriously in the first place. Zanef says in quotes, the program apparently has good reviews and then says, try to get more than just reviews. The troubled teen industry is pretty horrifying. There's a troubled teen subreddit for survivors. It's brutal. Hopi says, I'm aware. That's why I'm hesitant about this.

[00:09:17] Dammit Gravity says, oh thank god, I'm glad you're aware of the troubled teen industry. My heart sank so low when I read that your friend was suggesting it. Maybe it's legit, but I do feel it's a bit of an extreme response. Abby seems like a mostly good kid who just has this one stupid thing that got stuck in her brain. Normal teen stuff. I find it interesting that Judd did a 180 after reading a post and now seems to be going from one extreme to the other. No real punishment to all punishment. I would think a bit more about that.

[00:09:47] I realize you're a step-parent and likely have no say in how Abby is parented, but I find it very concerning your wife seems to be so easily influenced by outsiders. Honestly, if Abby's able to keep to her word, to, if not end her pranks entirely, at least tone it down. I'd say you're all in the clear. Maybe suggest to Judd that you keep this program in reserve in case she needs it. And that she has a chance to prove she learned her first lesson. KA Irony says, sent away seems extreme.

[00:10:18] Have you looked into this program? Is it held at a religious college? She might just end up abused at some of these teen rehabilitation camps and also just exposed to kids that are worse. I realize it might not be your call, but I'll suggest try local therapy first, way before sending a kid off. OP says, and I agree. Sending a kid away from home will probably just damage them more, but Jed seems intent on dishing out the harshest punishment, immediately thinking that this will nip it at the bud.

[00:10:47] Or she doesn't want to be seen as an enabler. She changed opinions real fast when I showed her the original post. And I gotta say, for me, it felt like an extreme response as well. It just seemed to go from not much of a conversation. And from the mum's point of view in this, not much of a conversation to an intervention, which almost felt like extreme as well, even though it seemed to make her realize and promise to do better.

[00:11:12] But it still went about talking about this disciplinary camp, which just felt super extreme. And from what I've read, I absolutely got no clue about it. I don't see many positives out of it. And I've only read about sort of negative things about it. Again, I know absolutely nothing about them. So I can't say too much on that. But seven months later, OP comes in with their update and says, well, it's been seven-ish months. And there's been a few developments. Let's address some more things before getting there.

[00:11:39] Up until recently, I've still been getting DMs asking, why is this brat still in my house? Why are my friends with Jess? And why did I name my wife Judd in my posts? I was drinking when I made my first post. I saved a draft, went back to it after a few hours sobering up, fixing a bunch of grammatical mistakes. But clearing some got overlooked and it just stuck. I was planning on calling her Judy. Jess and I are not friends.

[00:12:05] She's married to my cousin, who I do have a good relationship with, as well as their two daughters and Jess's daughter. Jess has a serious problem with boundaries. As for why Abby was still living with me, you have to understand. I, her stepfather, broke Abby's, my stepdaughter's nose. If word got out, it would look really bad. I'd be seen as an abuser and may have even been arrested. Several comments pointed this out, how I should have just saved that video for my own safety.

[00:12:33] I was pretty much going insane at that point and my wife thought nothing of it, thinking I should just let this go until I showed her my original post. To be honest, I wanted to keep the intervention that we had smaller that didn't involve her friends because I felt they did not need to know about it. I just wanted her grandparents and Jess to show up, but I was convinced otherwise. Update. We decided that we would send Abby to weekly therapy. We're under the agreement that I would find and pay for it and if it worked, my wife would

[00:13:03] pay me back. It did work. Abby improved by a lot. She has realized how much damage she has done and working to improve things. She has even begun to do volunteer work as well, which I didn't think she would do. She has apologized profusely realizing how disgusting her prank was. She has also deleted her TikTok account claiming that's where she got all the ideas from. We decided we would get her a new smartphone for her birthday three months ago for the improvement she's shown. We took away all the smart devices as punishment.

[00:13:33] I don't think I mentioned that before. As for me and my wife, I gave her an ultimatum. Since therapy worked for Abby, it would be time we go to couples therapy or else we separate. We were having problems before this whole incident showed up and now it kind of has to be forced. Past two years, we've been living more like roommates and her enabling behavior is finally causing things to fall apart. She reluctantly agreed. It ended up being short-lived.

[00:13:59] She spoke during our sessions how I take things out of proportion and I went too far posting the incident online. She revealed that she was indeed following my posts and that's why she changed her mind about the camp. Our therapist then asked us both if we loved each other at all. I was honest and said yes, but it's becoming difficult. My wife on the other hand said she was in love with the idea of me. I needed a minute if I heard that right and she went on how I was apparently a catch.

[00:14:27] I was younger than her, had a stable job and owned a house and she thought my loyalty was a bonus. I don't know why but I asked her if she cheated on me and she said no. But it doesn't matter. She just revealed that she settled for me. I filed for divorce two months ago. We had a prenup so things are going smoothly other than her erroneously claiming some jewelry as hers but my lawyer seems to think that it should be finalized within one to two months. So my soon-to-be ex has moved out along with Abby.

[00:14:57] My dog misses them. She just sits by the door waiting for hours for them to come back. Soon-to-be ex is not happy about how things have progressed. She's been calling me a spineless bastard who couldn't just tolerate how things are and has been saying to everyone who will listen. But behind closed doors, she's been blaming Abby for a divorce claiming it was her behavior that caused it. I know this is because she has called me and texts me semi-regularly. Abby is living with her grandparents because apparently her mother can't deal with her right now.

[00:15:26] I actually liked my in-laws. They were really good people and they've apologized for their daughter's actions and even offered to reimburse me for Abby's therapy sessions. They told me that they were going to take care of Abby because it seems her mother has finally lost it. But I spoke with Abby and assured her that this wasn't her fault. Chances are we were going to divorce regardless. She then told me that she didn't want me to leave and that I was the closest thing to a father she ever had. This surprised me.

[00:15:53] I never really saw myself as a parental figure for Abby. I only really did the minimal. Outside of that, I just paid for school, events, supplies and I would carve out some time for her. But I did leave it up to her if she wanted to spend time with me. I told her that maybe when she turns 18, we can pick up where we left off. But until then, I don't think we can see each other. Her mother would definitely try to keep her away from me and to be honest, I need some time away from Abby as well. Things are so quiet at home that it's relaxing.

[00:16:23] So there you go. I don't even care if my soon-to-be ex finds this post. Jellico Alpha says to OP, I figured this was where this was heading for you. You deserve better, OP. And congrats on being smart enough to get a prenup. OP says, You know what? When I brought up the prenup, she was hesitant and took four months to get her to sign it. Guess that alone should have screamed problems. Contribution for a friend says,

[00:16:48] So, your soon-to-be ex didn't get the idea that if she loved you and invested in being more than a roommate, you two would still be married. Like, what's the deal here? To your ex, not you. Advice, get your dog another dog to be busy. He'll forget them at some point. Might also search for a dog daycare somewhere so we can meet other pet friends. OP says, Honestly, I think she's just incapable of forming a relationship beyond the superficial one at this point. As for my dog, I did hire a dog walker for her during the day after they moved out.

[00:17:18] Guess I'll look into doggy daycare too. Musical Blossom says to the OP, Gosh, your soon-to-be ex is awful. Good thing you got away while the getting's good. On another subject though, While I do understand that you need some time away from Abby and I don't blame you after everything, Abby won't cut her off completely, even if it's until she's 18. It's bad enough that her mother is emotionally abusing her by blaming her for your divorce, but cutting her out will damage her as well.

[00:17:45] Her mother doesn't want to be around her anymore and she's pretty much abandoned her, in a way after everything. Abby might feel like she has lost both of her parents. She needs you and it sounds like she really loves you, even if it didn't seem that way before. You don't have to see her if you don't want to, but a call, a text, or even an email will go a long way. But take some time to yourself first. You've been through a lot. And one more comment from Chemical Juice who says, And now all of Abby's issues make sense.

[00:18:14] Whether or not you thought of yourself as her father, you were the most stable, reliable adult in her life. Loving someone isn't always the same as wanting what's best for them, and she's a smart enough kid to realize the difference. You and her have both been victims of your ex's emotional unavailability, and Abby's already shown that she can be better than that. Stay in contact with her and her grandparents. If her mom has checked out and your ex-in-laws like you, they'd probably be thrilled to have you visit.

[00:18:41] I'm not saying you should file for custody or anything that extreme, but if you can still make time to show up for things like her birthday parties and the odd school play and talent show now and then, it will have an immeasurable impact on her life and the kind of person she'd become as an adult. You told Abby the divorce wasn't her fault, but her mom told her that it was her fault. So now Abby needs you to show her proof that her mom was wrong and you meant what you said. Of course, you should take your time to enjoy your peace and quiet, but don't shut them out entirely.

[00:19:11] This is an opportunity to do something truly meaningful with your life. I say go for it. Be the hero. Spite your bitchy ex-wife by living well and being her daughter's favorite weekend parent. And I'm with those comments on that. I've got to say, you know, Opie needs to do what they need to do. They've been through an absolute time as well. But my heart goes out to Abby. Like the comment said, she's probably feeling like she's lost both of her parents at this point in time. Her mom's completely rejecting her whilst Opie's stepping away. And, you know,

[00:19:41] I totally get why he's doing so. For her, it must feel like, what have I done? But it almost sounds like Abby's grandparents know what's sort of going on at this moment in time. So talking to them about the situation could be really useful. Again, I don't know the ins and outs of it all though. But what do you guys make of this situation? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below. Now, just a huge thank you for being here today, getting involved in the stories, your love, your support, your time. It always means the absolute world to me. So thank you so, so much. And hopefully,

[00:20:11] I'll see you in the next one. Take care and much love. Wake up. Wake up. Stretch my legs. Eat some breakfast. Brush my teeth up. Watch my face. Don't mind. I can smell the smoke from the bacon. Let's go. See the sunshine from the windows.

[00:20:46] Auf Booking.com buchst du dein Ferienhaus ganz einfach. Und da es keine versteckten Gebühren gibt, passiert das hier nicht mehr. Leute, hab eine Villa gefunden. Ich buche. Warte, warte, warte. For additional expenses? We don't have any expenses. So we go from home to the Ferien store. On booking.com find you your house very simple. Booking.com Booking.yeah