Dad Refuses To Let His Stepson Come Home After He Destroyed His Stepsister's Entire Book Collection

Books hold a special place in the reader's heart. They may be inanimate objects, but the stories and worlds they contain feel like warm cocoa on a cold winter's night; they are that special to whoever reads them.

This is why personal book collections are precious to their owners. Any book collector would flinch at a broken spine or a poorly cared-for book, and this was our reaction when we read this Reddit story.

OP (original poster) shared a story about his stepson, his daughter, and her book collection. OP has a 12-year-old daughter who loves to collect old children's books.

She used to struggle with learning and reading until OP was advised to encourage her to read. After OP's daughter, Susan, discovered her love for reading, her other learning problems diminished, and her reading habit turned into a genuine passion for books.

OP also has a 16-year-old stepson, Levi, who, according to OP, can be a bit of a hothead. They don't have a father-son relationship, but they respect each other to some degree despite Levi's selfish tendencies.

For example, Levi throws things that belong to OP and their family over petty disagreements, and he loves to tease Susan. He calls her a grandma because she reads too much.

OP and his wife have discussed Levi's disturbing behavior and how to appropriately punish him. However, every time, Levi runs to his biological father's house to have him deal with OP.

The dad yells at OP for wanting to punish Levi, then the problematic stepson comes home a few days later acting as if he did nothing wrong. OP gets frustrated by this cycle, but he has found no solution.

One day, OP received a call from his daughter while he was at work.

Susan said Levi took her entire book collection and threw it in the pool after she refused to lend him her camera for his trip. OP's wife helped Susan fish her books out of the pool, but the books were already ruined.

The problem is that some of those books are hard to find, not to mention how special they are to Susan. Now, because of Levi, the books are wet, and some have been torn.

OP was furious and decided to leave work early to talk to his wife about Levi's punishment. When he got home, Levi was already gone; he immediately called his dad after Susan told him OP was on his way home to deal with him.

Upon hearing this, OP went to the dad's home and demanded to talk to Levi. His father refused to let OP see Levi.

OP said Levi should stop hiding from the consequences of his actions, but his dad told OP that Levi is just acting out because of the way OP and Susan treated him.

Levi's dad even said that what happened was just Levi's way of reacting to Susan being mean to him. Additionally, OP is not Levi's biological father, and he will call Child Protective Services if OP tries to punish him.

The dad told OP to leave, as Levi will not be coming home unless OP puts it in writing that he will not punish Levi for what he did. OP refused to back down and said Levi cannot come home unless he receives the appropriate punishment.

OP talked to his wife about the situation, and she said OP should let this go and find a way to resolve it. He thinks it's unfair that Susan's books are all ruined while Levi gets away with it.

His in-laws also think OP was out of line for refusing to let Levi come home. However, OP believes that if he lets this slide, it will only encourage Levi to misbehave in the future.

throw4privacy5

You can read OP's whole account of the events below:

throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5

OP added an edit later on to share that this was not the first time he had a problem with Levi's dad for shielding Levi from punishment:

throw4privacy5 throw4privacy5

Susan deserves a real apology from Levi and further protection from him.

Mera1506 Mera1506

Levi should know by now that this is not how you treat people. He is almost an adult who doesn't respect boundaries.

FreeFortuna FreeFortuna

If you involve some monetary compensation, maybe the biological dad will stop siding with his destructive son?

boscabruiscear

You can't really sue Levi as he is a minor.

sraydenk

Levi needs more than a stern talking-to.

bluebird2019xx

OP's wife, Levi's mom, is not helping the situation at all. She is refusing to address her son's behavior, which further enables him.

bluebird2019xx bluebird2019xx

OP's daughter comes first; he shouldn't let Levi get away with this to show her that.

that-bro-joshy

Let's not forget that Susan is the victim here; Levi is not the one in sore need of compassion.

Horror_Jellyfish1233

Good on OP for standing his ground.

throw4privacy5

The dad wants to act all macho, but he's not doing Levi any favors by not parenting him.

wet_nib811

You simply cannot let this go. If someone mistreats you and crosses your boundaries, you don't lie down and take it, do you?

throw4privacy5

This is a hill to die on. Susan's security should come first.

RedditUser123234 RedditUser123234

Levi needs therapy, stat.

StreamAngler

This may be crossing the line.

oldcreaker

After reading responses, they amended their initial suggestion of selling Levi's things without his consent.

oldcreaker

"You don't teach respect by acting disrespectfully."

mmmeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh

Raising children is a tough job for any parent. What may work for one family will not be applicable for another, but some lessons remain true.

Kids need to be taught boundaries that they will carry into their adult lives. We do them a disservice by letting them behave however they want.

What Levi did is wrong and awful on so many levels. His parents need to teach him as early as now that this is not the right way to treat people, and if he does, he better be ready to face the consequences.

If Levi's dad changes his tune and allows him to go to therapy, as OP suggested, he will be better for it. We fervently hope that Susan is fine after all of this and continues her love for reading.