woman with rainbow colored hair
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
May 25, 2022 ·  4 min read

19-Year-Old Spends $300 On Rainbow Hair Because ‘It’s Important For Her Mental Health’, Parent Demands She Pay Rent From Now On

When your daughter spends money on rainbow hair- what do you do? If the family is conservative, there could be some apprehension. In fact, some parents might think that their daughter could spend the money more productive.y In the case of u/haircoloraita, it was asking their daughter to pay rent. In their post on the popular subreddit, Am I The A**hole? they mentioned that their 19-year-old daughter had been living at home after graduating.

Even though she gained admission to a few colleges- she wanted to take a break. And incidentally, it was fine for the family. Just that, she had a few rules to follow- within reason. One of them being the daughter had to work around 30 hours. The original poster (OP) also wanted her to pay rent, but OP’s wife convinced him not to. 

“This past weekend Kate came home one day with bright rainbow hair. My son asked her how much it cost and Kate said it was $300. I asked Kate if she seriously spent $300 on her hair and she said yes. I told her that was a ridiculous amount of money for something like that. She said it makes her feel good and it’s important for her mental health. I told her that if she can afford to spend $300 on her hair, then she can afford to pay us rent. She immediately got defensive and reiterated that it is her money and she will spend it how she wants. She said I don’t understand why this is important to her and that she hates that I am so controlling over what she does.”


u/haircoloraita | Reddit

Read: Dad Is Livid Over His Mother-In-Law Sneakily Breastfeeding His Daughter And Firing The Nanny Without Consulting Him, Calls The Cops On Her

Rainbow-Hair As Therapy- Acceptable Or Not?

Incidentally, OP’s daughter also suffers from anxiety in the form of a lack of impulse control. This manifested in her extravagant spending habits. And according to OP- she would often be spending on things that she didn’t need. Now, did OP consider her rainbow hair needless? Absolutely.

“I told her that as long as she’s still living with us, I have a right to be critical of the choices she makes. She called me an asshole and stormed off to her room and slammed the door. My wife told me that I need to be more supportive of Kate and her choices, especially in regard to money. I told her that I am not going to continue to let her live here for free if she’s going to spend money so recklessly.”

u/haircoloraita | Reddit
This image is for aesthetic purposes only.

Also, one needs to remember- OP has other kids too.

“I told my wife that we need to have a conversation about Kate continuing to live with us because we have other kids to support and Kate is an adult and should be contributing something to the house if she’s going to stay here.”

u/haircoloraita | Reddit

Should OP Charge Rent From His Own Daughter?

So, what did Reddit think about OP and their rainbow-haired daughter?

u/IKnowFewThings mentioned,

“She lives with you, is an adult, and has money. She uses your electricity and water. Make her pay rent. Unless she physically cannot pay the rent, make her pay at least something. Although I will say, your reasoning seems flawed. You seem to be punishing her for buying something. In my family, once you get a job and can afford rent, you start paying rent. It’s a good learning tool in my case.”

u/Darceymakeup has a different perspective about the whole situation.

“You are the a******. This whole charging your kid rent is such an american thing, in most countries people don’t move out till their mid 20s so charging a 19-year-old that is literally your child is ridiculous. Everyone goes through that phase of ‘oooh I have my own money’ before panic kicks in and they learn to save, letting them mature rather than taking money you don’t need off of her. It’s not like she is a 30-year-old deadbeat sleeping on your couch, she is a teen trying to figure her life out.”

u/bellalugosi reiterated the sentiment:

“Like how much money is she actually costing him? Was he planning on taking a boarder to the room she’s in? I’m assuming she eats meals with the family and probably buys some of her own/eats out. In a few years he’ll be wondering why his daughter wants nothing to do with him.”

So, what do our readers think? Was the rainbow-haired teen right? Or was her father correct?

Keep Reading: ‘My Mother-in-Law Got A Tattoo Of My Children’s Names Without Asking Me First’

Source:

  1. AITA For telling my 19-year-old daughter that she has to pay rent.” Reddit. May 11, 2022.

Attention: While many of these stories are interesting, and we would love to take their word for it, the content in this article was taken from an unverifiable source (i.e., a Reddit forum). As such, we cannot guarantee that these events truly happened in the way that they are described in the original source.