Mom Cancels Son’s Birthday Party After Accusing Him of Stealing $10 from Her

A mother says she’s receiving pushback after canceling her son’s birthday party when she suspected he stole $10 from her wallet.

Writing in Reddit’s “Am I the A——?” forum, the mom explained that she believes her son took the money, and she decided the consequence would be to call off his planned 13th birthday celebration.

Her son’s birthday falls in December, and she said finances can be tight — which often means his birthday gets folded into Christmas. This year, though, felt significant: he’s officially becoming a teenager. So she arranged a party with roughly 10 of his friends.

She planned an outdoor scavenger hunt (they live in an apartment) and decided the prize would be hidden cash. To prepare, she withdrew $20 in four $5 bills and kept the money in her wallet until the party.

On Dec. 18 — his last day of school before Christmas break — she gave him one of the $5 bills as a small treat for a school celebration. She says she specifically noticed that three $5 bills remained afterward.

Not long after, she wrote, her wallet was left unattended while her son and a friend were nearby. When she returned, she found her wallet open and said $10 was missing.

“I immediately call my son asking if he took $10 which he denies,” she wrote. She added that she doesn’t believe his friend took it, and said her son also denied that possibility.

She also noted she’s been struggling with her son’s honesty recently. While she says he hasn’t taken money before, she wrote that he has taken snacks and cookies and other “little things.”

When she raised the issue again after he got home, she said her son repeated that he didn’t take the cash and neither did his friend. At that point, she decided to cancel the birthday party.

“I feel like he is lying and I do not trust people in the apartment if he has no clue what happened to my money,” she wrote. “A part of me feels like I am overreacting over $10 but I feel like if my son did take and I let him still have a party I am setting an example that he can just steal more next time.”

In the comments, many readers argued that canceling the party was disproportionate and could backfire — especially without proof. Some shared memories of being blamed for something they didn’t do, saying the hurt lingered long after the truth came out and permanently affected family relationships.

Others pointed out that the mother can’t be certain her son took the money. They suggested possibilities such as the friend taking it without admitting it, or the cash being misplaced during a hectic time of year. Several commenters said that punishing him without certainty undermines trust and could create lasting resentment.

“I get it. Money is tight. It’s stressful,” one commenter wrote. “Don’t make this $10 a formative memory that your son will be telling a therapist a decade from now. It’s already hard having a December birthday. Please don’t make it harder for him.”