My [27M] girlfriend [28F] wants me to use a gift she got for me to placate her son by buying him some toys. How do I get her to tell her son no?

A man (27M) has been dating his girlfriend (28F) for a year and recently met her 8-year-old son, who tends to be spoiled. For Christmas, the girlfriend gifted him a $50 Walmart card, but now she’s pressuring him to use it—and his savings—to buy her son a full set of toys after the boy threw a tantrum. The man wants advice on how to encourage his girlfriend to set boundaries and teach her son the importance of hearing “no.”

‘ My [27M] girlfriend [28F] wants me to use a gift she got for me to placate her son by buying him some toys. How do I get her to tell her son no?’

I’ve dated my girlfriend for a year now and things have been going great so far. She has an 8 year old son from a previous relationship (he abandoned them when he was born) and i met him 3 months ago. One issue is that he can be very spoiled by him demanding stuff and she would just get them.

For Christmas, she got me a $50 Walmart card (she honestly didn’t have to get me anything) and I got her a nice book and him a video game for his switch. The issue I’m running into currently is that her son is throwing a fit because he only got one Mr beast lab toy instead of the whole collection.

I personally don’t think he’s anywhere near as charitable as his videos lead him to believe but my wife is now insisting that I use the gift card plus the money I saved up to buy him the entire collection. She insists that I should be like Mr beast and be charitable but the toys are too expensive and I don’t think he’s a particularly good influencer anyway. How do I get her to parent her son and tell him no?

Check out how the community responded:

Famous_Specialist_44 −  Practice this: no.

Lrnr1749 −  I know as adults we shouldn’t call kids arseholes but she’s massively enabling him to be a little arsehole. Really poor parenting on her behalf.

HandBananasRevenge −  She’s a mooch. D**p her. 

oxPsychoticHottie −  My son is 8 and I don’t let him anywhere near Mr Beast material. Mr. Beast isn’t actually all that admirable and she should read his company’s intro booklet. Also she shouldn’t be allowing for tantrums. At all. My 8 year old son got a Lego set he already had and said “I already have this, I don’t need it.” And I came down on him hard. I personally would find poor parenting a deal breaker.

Historical-Piglet-86 −  You called her both your girlfriend and your wife…

SherLovesCats −  Why are you calling her your “wife” at the end of the post?

anditurnedaround −  No, is the right answer. Why you can’t say it might be found on r/therapy. I don’t know if that’s a real sub, but it wouldn’t surprise me. 

HoshiJones −  I think you should concentrate on telling your girlfriend no, by breaking up with her. She’s selfish and entitled and it’s beyond my comprehension that she could give you a gift card for Christmas and then demand you use it for her kid.

OkLocksmith2064 −  Wife of gf? If you’re a stepfather you have more rights and I would suggest to stand my ground cause you’re living together and you have to endure his antics. If not… well.. it’s your decision.

Accurate_Barnacle895 −  It seems that she is as spoiled as her son. You tell her no and stick to it just like she needs to do with him. This is a life lesson that son needs or he will grow up to be spoiled and entitled. He acts this way because it works. Stop the cycle. It will be hard but he will eventually get it.