When my teenage daughter Rachel saved up to buy a sewing machine, her stepmother Karen destroyed it out of spite. Rachel had worked hard to earn the money, and Karen threw the machine into the pool as punishment for not finishing her chores quickly enough. After hearing about what happened, I knew I had to take action.
I confronted Karen, but my ex-husband Mark refused to support Rachel. So, I decided to enlist the help of a friend, Jason, to get back at her.
We came up with a plan: Jason, dressed as a policeman, showed up at Karen’s house and “confiscated” her laptop as part of an investigation. Karen panicked and begged him not to take it, while Rachel filmed the entire situation.
I then entered the room and told Karen it was a lesson in empathy. I demanded that she pay for the sewing machine and apologize. Humiliated, Karen reluctantly agreed and wrote a check to Rachel.
Since that incident, Rachel has refused to spend weekends at her dad’s house, and Karen has been on her best behavior. Rachel used the money to buy a new sewing machine, which she keeps with me, where it rightfully belongs.
