Woman Billing Boyfriend $1,000 After Staying at Her House Backed

A woman has been backed for billing her boyfriend $1,000 after he and his daughter stayed at her home.

User u/Fluid_Location4956 shared her story on Reddit's popular r/AmITheA****** where it has more than 6,000 upvotes and thousands of comments.

She explained: "I've been seeing 'Jack' for 2 years now but we live separately due to the kids and just wanting to make sure this is 100% all in before uprooting them." With two sons and a daughter of her own, her partner has one teenage daughter.

While going away with her kids on a trip, she entrusted Jack and his daughter to house-sit her place, and explained that she typically spends around $1,000 a month on groceries to accommodate herself, her children, and Jack and his daughter during their twice-a-month weekend stays.

But upon returning home after a two-week absence, the woman was shocked to find her house in disarray, with dirty dishes, clothes strewn around, and, most notably, a significant portion of the groceries she had purchased before leaving completely consumed. Outraged by the situation, she confronted Jack, demanding a $1,000 reimbursement for the food.

"I told him their intake was absolutely repulsive. That I said he could have some, not eat everything in the house and leave us with nothing," she said. "He said that he had allowed his kid to have her friends over and they are a lot, but he shouldn't have to give me $1000, given that I told him they could eat the food."

Georgina Sturmer, a Counsellor and MBACP for insights into blending families and healthy communication, emphasized the importance of establishing ground rules and open communication before blending lives: "Every family is like an individual tribe... we need to learn to speak each other's language, to understand each other's customs. This takes time, willingness, compromise, and an ability to learn from mistakes."

Online, people backed the poster and said she was right to insist on getting the money back for the mess and consumption left by the man and his daughter.

"NTA. Where I live pet/house sitting would run about $50/day and my sitter provides their own food," one commenter said. While another wrote: "NTA. They were there to take care of your home, not to have a vacation."

One Redditor wrote: "They were guests in your home and disrespected your things, your furniture and your pantry. They treated you like all-day buffet in a 5-star hotel! Red flags."

Sturmer also highlighted the crucial role of healthy communication, suggesting that both parties should collaborate to set ground rules and expectations, emphasizing the need for compromise and negotiation.

"Sometimes we don't realize how much goes unsaid until we have a breakdown in communication. It sounds like both parties feel misunderstood," she said. "In this situation, they should start from scratch and collaborate to set ground rules."

Newsweek reached out to u/Fluid_Location4956 via Reddit for comment.

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