My teenage daughter saved all the money she could to buy a sewing machine. Little did she know that her stepmother would destroy it out of anger. But when I heard the news, I asked a close friend to help me get back at them in a sweet way.<\/p>\n
I never thought I\u2019d have to fight with my ex-husband\u2019s new wife because she had been mean to my daughter for years, but when she went too far, I knew I had to strike back. I need to take a step back.<\/p>\n
Rachel is sixteen years old, and I\u2019m 46 years old. She knows a lot about fashion and wants to become a fashion designer. She lives with me most of the time, but every other weekend she goes to her dad\u2019s house. We\u2019ll just say that she doesn\u2019t like those weekends.<\/p>\n
Mark, Rachel\u2019s dad, and I broke up a long time ago. Our friendship right now? Nice, but far away. In the past, he was the \u201chands-off\u201d parent, more of a friend than a dad. He married someone else soon after we got divorced. Her name is Karen, and she fits the image.<\/p>\n
She treats them badly and makes their house into a boot camp by having strict rules that everyone must follow. Rachel has always had trouble with that because she is independent and stubborn.<\/p>\n
Karen is very strict about discipline, so my daughter can\u2019t have any spending money and has to work hard for everything. Mark isn\u2019t willing to help her financially, which is sad. What did he think? \u201cI feed her and pay for her school when she\u2019s here, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
At Rachel\u2019s promise to save money for her dream sewing machine, I was happy. My little (ok, not so little) go-getter got a part-time job at a nearby fabric shop and did a great job of juggling school and work!<\/p>\n
You know how hard she worked? I even offered to match her savings to help her get the machine faster! Her face lit up when she finally got it home, and I knew it had been worth it. It felt like hers for the first time!<\/p>\n
My daughter spent all of her free time working because she was so excited about her new buy. Her big dream was to make her hobby her job. But Karen? She wouldn\u2019t have it.<\/p>\n
She would yell at Rachel, \u201cYou spend too much time on that thing!\u201d and not care about how much she loved sewing. \u201cThis is a distraction.\u201d You need to take care of this house.<\/p>\n
Every time Rachel came home from a weekend away, I could see the stress rising.<\/p>\n
She told me in tears one Friday that something her stepmother had done had broken her heart. I was furious when she broke down and told me what had happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, she threw it in the pool,\u201d my daughter said in a shaking voice. \u201cBecause I took too long to wash the dishes.\u201d She didn\u2019t listen when I told her I\u2019d do them right after, because she thought I was fighting with her. As a punishment, she just picked it up and threw it outside.<\/p>\n
My blood started to boil. \u201cAre you kidding me?!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be there soon, my child.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m sorry this happened,\u201d I said, feeling like I was going to burst.<\/p>\n
I quickly got my keys and drove over. I shouldn\u2019t have taken Rachel because I had just dropped her off earlier that day, but I was determined to keep her safe.<\/p>\n
Rachel met me at the front door with tears in her eyes when I got there. \u201cShe told me I had to change.\u201d Dad didn\u2019t even say anything. \u201cHe did nothing but stand there.\u201d<\/p>\n
As I calmed her and walked in to talk to Karen, my heart broke.<\/p>\n
Why did Mark do nothing while Karen ruined something our daughter had worked so hard for? That hurt the most. Karen always had that smug look on her face when she saw me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you here?\u201d she asked with her arms crossed.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t think about it, and I kept my voice steady. \u201cI\u2019m here to get Rachel\u2019s things.\u201d You had no right to ruin something she worked so hard on!\u201d<\/p>\n
Karen didn\u2019t even move. \u201cIt took my attention away!\u201d Too much of her attention is on the sewing machine and not enough on her work. She may listen next time now that she knows what she did wrong!<\/p>\n
Rachel stood behind me with her hands clenched. There was no way I was going to let this go. I knew it hurt her a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cKaren,\u201d I said as I got closer, \u201cyou\u2019re wrong to think that ruining something she loves is a good way to teach her responsibility.\u201d You\u2019re teaching people to be mean!\u201d<\/p>\n
As Mark watched from the kitchen, he finally spoke up. \u201cLook, I think you\u2019re being too dramatic.\u201d Karen is just trying to help our daughter stay on track. It\u2019s just a machine.<\/p>\n
I gave him a mean look. \u201cMark, this is so Rachel doesn\u2019t want to come here at all!\u201d You let your wife do what she wants, but you don\u2019t protect your daughter!\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked away, clearly not happy, but I didn\u2019t have time to listen to his reasons. I went back to Karen. \u201cThis is a bad idea,\u201d I told her quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cRach, go get your stuff.\u201d I told my daughter, \u201cYou\u2019re staying at my house tonight,\u201d and I looked at my ex-wife with disdain.<\/p>\n
I told Mark and Karen, \u201cI\u2019ll bring her back if she wants to.\u201d They didn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n
After a bad day, I got mad and took my daughter home. We watched movies, ate popcorn, and cuddled up under a blanket. But I was set on teaching her aunt a very important lesson. I hoped this short break would help her feel better.<\/p>\n
I put my plan into action the next day. Jason was an acting friend of mine, and he owed me a favor. He was dressed in an old police outfit from another job, and he knew exactly how to make the role seem real.<\/p>\n
What we did was come up with a plan to teach Karen a lesson. The mom of my daughter worked from home and spent a lot of time on her laptop. She could not live without that thing. Meetings, papers, and everything else were on it.<\/p>\n
I thought it was time for her to know what it\u2019s like to lose something important. The next day, I told Rachel about the plan and what she would need to do to help us finish it up.<\/p>\n
My sassy teen was excited to join in and was ready to beat Karen up and teach her a lesson. Just know that Karen\u2019s screams were worth it.<\/p>\n
Early Sunday morning so I could take Rachel to Mark\u2019s house and then act like I was leaving. We met up after I parked my car out of sight and he was fully dressed as a police officer.<\/p>\n
For my part, I stayed away and watched as Jason knocked on their door.<\/p>\n
Karen replied, and Jason began his practiced speech. \u201cMa\u2019am, we have a court order to take your laptop away because an investigation is still going on.\u201d He showed some papers that looked very credible.<\/p>\n
Karen\u2019s face lost all of its color. \u201cWhat?\u201d Not at all! \u201cThere must be a mistake!\u201d she screamed in shock as she thought of all the important data on the machine.<\/p>\n
He stepped inside and said, \u201cI\u2019m afraid not.\u201d \u201cPlease give it to me now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hid somewhere and could hear her scared voice. \u201cWhy do you want to take my laptop?!\u201d I need it! It has all of my files, both work and home ones!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason stayed true to himself and shook his head. \u201cMa\u2019am, I know this is hard, but I can\u2019t do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the verge of tears, she begged Jason not to take what she called \u201cmy life!\u201d Karen was one of those people who didn\u2019t believe in saving things in the cloud, which meant she couldn\u2019t get to all the important work-related data.<\/p>\n
Right then, Rachel came in behind her through the kitchen with her phone out to record everything. She looked Karen in the eye and said, \u201cSee?\u201d Giving up something important to you is painful.<\/p>\n
As her stepmother realized what was going on, her mouth dropped open! Her face turned red, and she looked back and forth between Rachel and Jason. \u201cWait\u2026 Is this a joke?\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled as I walked inside. \u201cNot a joke.\u201d Just a lesson in being kind.<\/p>\n
When Karen tried to say, \u201cYou can\u2019t just\u2014,\u201d her jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
I crossed my arms and said, \u201cOh, but I can.\u201d \u201cOkay, here it is. You\u2019re going to say sorry and pay Rachel back for the sewing machine in full. If not, we\u2019ll share this video on social media to show all of your friends how you broke the law. People will look down on you, and your company may lose trust in you.<\/p>\n
Karen looked around like she was hoping someone would come save her, but Mark had gone fishing the day before, so she was in my care. She let out a heavy sigh and said, \u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n
She screamed and ran to get her wallet, feeling very ashamed. She wrote down the amount and gave Rachel the check right away. She said, \u201cSorry,\u201d but didn\u2019t look him in the eyes.<\/p>\n
I said \u201cyes\u201d when my daughter looked at me. \u201cThis is it.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all left at the same time, but Karen stayed behind. I told my daughter\u2019s mean stepmother that she would be staying with me full-time until she was ready to go back to them.<\/p>\n
As soon as we got in the car, Rachel laughed. \u201cWow, Mom, that was great!\u201d<\/p>\n
No one can mess with my daughter and get away with it, sweetheart, I told her as I squeezed her hand.<\/p>\n
Rachel hasn\u2019t gone to her dad\u2019s house on the weekend since then unless she wants to. Now they meet in a neutral place, like a park or a coffee shop. What about Karen? She\u2019s been very good, but I don\u2019t think she\u2019ll ever forget that day.<\/p>\n
The money was used by my daughter to buy a new sewing machine. She is keeping it at home with me this time, where it belongs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My teenage daughter saved all the money she could to buy a sewing machine. Little did she know that her stepmother would destroy it out of anger. But when I heard the news, I asked a close friend to help me get back at them in a sweet way. I never thought I\u2019d have to…<\/p>\n