Most family heirlooms are considered priceless.
Because you can’t put a dollar value on memories.
Some items are so cherished one can’t even consider being parting with them.
This last sentiment can cause a lot of drama when it comes time to see who gets what in a will.
Emotions tend to run high when it comes to possession.
Redditor QueenB1253 wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback. So naturally, she came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
She asked:
“AITA for not giving my niece the porcelain doll my mother left for her?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“My niece Jay (10 F[emale]) was the only Granddaughter when my mother died in 2020.”
“When she died, she wanted my niece to have her porcelain doll collection with around 6 dolls.”
“These porcelain dolls were around when I was a child and I had memories of getting in trouble for playing with them.”
“They are absolutely beautiful.”
“Well, when my mother died I (29 F) decided to keep ONE doll.”
“I know it wasn’t left to me, but I felt like they meant more to me than they could to my niece.”
“I contemplated giving it back to her when she was old enough to appreciate it.”
“We’re from Louisiana, and Hurricane Laura hit… when we evacuated.”
“I took the doll with me because I knew it was sentimental and irreplaceable.”
“My niece, however, let all the remaining five dolls get ruined in the hurricane because she left them in the house when they got ruined.”
“My twin sister (Jay’s mom) thinks that it’s only fair that I give Jay the doll.”
“I kept the doll safe because after all it was left for her… my argument is that if I had given her the doll, it would have gotten ruined with the other ones because she didn’t care enough about them to take them with her.”
“Fast-forward, we are now in 2025 and I have a daughter of my own.”
“I 100 % believe if my mom would have known she was gonna have another granddaughter, she would have left a doll to her.”
The OP was left to wonder:
“AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP WAS the A**hole.
“YTA for a few reasons.”
“It is not nor was it ever your doll.”
“It was always your niece’s doll.”
“Your mother very specifically said they were all to go to your niece.”
“If you wanted one you should have told your mother this before she died and asked if you could have one.”
“Your niece didn’t leave the doll during a hurricane evacuation because she didn’t give a crap about the dolls… they were left because as a minor young child, she was relying on her parents to get out of an incredibly scary situation.”
“Wrapping up a bunch of dolls no matter how sentimental the priority for any of them was not and has NOTHING to do with any of this.”
“It doesn’t matter how sure you are about how your mom would feel now since there is another granddaughter.”
“You could be 100 percent imprint sure… it doesn’t matter because your mom is dead and left zero thoughts about that.”
“You went against your Mother’s wishes and pretty much stole a doll from a child.”
“YTA for doing that.”
“And you are an even bigger AH for refusing to give it back.” ~ True-Blackberry-3080
“Also, OP took one doll, which was probably easier to pack up than five dolls, which we have no idea how big they might have been or where they were stored.”
“I am sure the family lost a lot more than just those 5 dolls that had great sentimental value.”
“I probably have two dolls I would try to take with me, but there is only me to look after.”
“I am not trying to sort out a family that probably contains a small, frightened child trying to understand all the chaos around them.”
“OP is an AH twice over, once for keeping the doll and then for blaming a child for something she couldn’t prevent.”
“The doll should go to the child it originally intended for.” ~ dvioletta
“She had to pack one doll and no children!!!!”
“Her sister had to pack up a whole family!”
“Getting my babies out of an oncoming hurricane would be my priority, too.”
“OP only had the luxury of fixating on the doll because she had no children to care for, worry or stress about.”
“She’s a massive AH.” ~ Unicorn_Fluffs
“Also, evacuating yourself is going to be easier than evacuating a family with young children.”
“But yeah, saying a 6-year-old should have carefully packed up 5 porcelain dolls in the middle of a hurricane evacuation order, and the fact that she didn’t mean it’s ok to rob her, is absolutely wild.”
“OP YTA.” ~ CivilButterfly2844
“If OPs grandmother was anything like my mother (who I inherited my porcelain dolls from at the age of 11) she would have whooped OPs butt for being more worried about a doll than her own safety and would have told the niece, ‘They are only dolls and aren’t more important than your safety, good girl.'”
“OP, YTA, on multiple faces of this…”
“1. You have essentially stolen from your niece.
“2. You didn’t allow the will to be executed to the letter, and (isn’t that illegal??).”
“3. You are telling your niece that she should have risked her safety over a bunch of dolls just like you did.”
“I get a feeling you don’t like your sister or niece here, or maybe you have always felt entitled to what isn’t yours.” ~ Environmental_Art591
“YTA. Can’t believe you’re holding against your niece that she left the dolls during a HURRICANE.”
“Do you think someone that young would be thinking of the dolls when something that scary is going on?”
“You’re in the wrong for keeping the doll, to begin with, when you know your mom wanted your niece to have them all.”
“And you’re a grown adult; you know it was wrong, but you still did it anyway.”
“If you decide to keep it for your daughter,r you’ll most likely face a lot of backlash from your family for doing so.” ~ FindingFit6035
“YTA. The doll is not yours to keep, period.”
“Also, hang on.”
“Your niece is 10 now, right?”
“Laura happened in 2020.”
“You’re really trying to justify yourself by blaming a 6-year-old for not taking her dolls with her?”
“Of her not caring enough?”
“Ew, honestly. Give the doll back, thief.” ~ PaladinHeir
“This comment needs more attention because the child wasn’t even 10.”
“She was closer to 5 or 6!”
“Like not even old enough to get ready for school by herself or make herself a sandwich or do anything, fully dependent on her parent’s aid during a disaster that could have killed her or her family, and OP is blaming her for not caring about the dolls!?”
“OP you’re disgusting.”
“You’re a thief, and if you still live in hurricane territory, god forbid you ever wind up in a situation where you have to choose between your living, breathing family members versus a doll.” ~ PettyLittlePirate
“ETA: I have the privilege of never being anywhere in a natural disaster or a human one (i.e. war), so please take what I say with a grain of salt.”
“In these cases, you take the essentials.”
“Yes, sometimes, people do take a treasured memento.”
“OP saying niece didn’t care enough reads selfish and bully-ish behavior.”
“The niece was 6 then!”
“YTA. The doll was meant for your niece.”
“Of course, your mother would leave a doll for your child, but, sadly, she passed before you even had a child.”
“‘We’re from Louisiana and hurricane Laura hit… when we evacuated.'”
“‘I took the doll with me because I knew it was sentimental and irreplaceable.'”
“‘My niece, however, let all of the remaining five dolls get ruined in a hurricane because she let them in the house when where got ruined.'”
“Did your niece have weather powers? No.”
“She is a HUMAN child.”
“You’re holding a natural disaster against your niece, which is your brain trying to excuse yourself from guilt.”
“Give her the doll back.”
“If you haven’t already, I suggest seeking grief counseling.” ~ AVeryBrownGirlNerd
“YTA – Legally it’s not your’s to keep.”
“Furthermore what grown woman writes the phrase ‘she let them get ruined by the hurricane’, especially about a child.”
“Unless she picked them up, took them outside, and let them get waterlogged and strewn about thus INTENTIONALLY ruining the dolls, your adolescent niece had nothing to do with the natural disaster, and thinking otherwise is absolutely ridiculous.”
“People are evacuating to save their lives, not family keepsakes. SMH.” ~ Plane_Alternative_42
“I agree here.”
“I don’t think anybody cared when it was one of six dolls, but now that it’s the only one remaining…”
“I hesitate to say OP should give the doll back because she very clearly cherishes it.”
“And honestly, even grabbing one doll from the five the niece had would’ve shown some concern for preserving a family heirloom on OP’s sister’s part.”
“In 2020, we had the ability to predict landfall and severity of impact to give people time to plan their evacuations.”
“There is very little excuse for not packing up one.” ~ quidyn
“I feel the same way.”
“Also, leaving a family heirloom to a child rather than an adult is not a good choice.”
“It is a choice that should be honored, I’m just saying the Mom whiffed on this one.”
“It would have been much better to give the dolls to the OP so she could dispense them when appropriate to the next generation.”
“I would expect any objects left to a young kid will be lost or destroyed, which totally sucks when said object is super sentimental.”
“OP should pass the doll onto the niece, let it go, maybe buy a replica, and later start a new tradition of her own.”
“‘Here are dolls for children that we don’t let children play with’ isn’t a great family tradition anyway.” ~ DrStrangepants
“Honestly, this is where I‘m at.”
“OP is TA and quite literally breaking the law by going against her mother’s will, but my instincts are telling me this is just the latest front in a decades-long power struggle between the sisters.”
“As far as I can tell neither of them have even mentioned what the niece actually wants.”
“Obviously, the niece wouldn’t have been able to rescue the dolls when she was five.”
“But the sister may or may not have been able to depend on how much time they had to evacuate.”
“Did the sister have to leave in 30 minutes and couldn’t save anything, or did she have several days‘ warning during which she lovingly packed up other sentimental items but intentionally left the dolls behind?”
“That would obviously greatly change how I feel about the sister.”
“Why is it suddenly so important, five years later, to have the remaining doll?” ~ dragon_morgan
“Look, however way you spin it, you stole from your niece’s inheritance and now you’re blaming a 10-year-old child for not prioritizing porcelain dolls during a natural disaster.”
“I’m sorry your Mum didn’t leave any dolls for you and your daughter.”
“That’s not your niece’s fault that was your Mother’s choice. YTA” ~ excel_pager_420
“YTA. You selfishly kept something that you knew belonged to your niece.”
“And now you’re using that same selfish reasoning to give it to your daughter.”
“You know very well that you are not following your mother’s wishes because she was very clear with what she wanted.”
“You don’t get to rewrite history.”
“You essentially stole for your niece, and now you want to give that stolen item to your child.” ~ keesouth
“So to you, your 10-year-old niece had either two choices…”
“Collect the dolls and risk her being seriously injured.”
“Leave the dolls and make it to somewhere safely because what’s a life worth compared to a porcelain doll?”
“I’m sure your mom would’ve rather your niece be safe as well.”
“You, however, stole from your niece because of your belief that she didn’t care about the dolls which makes you an AH.”
“So YTA.” ~ RaineMist
“YTA. You stole a little girl’s inheritance, left to her by her grandmother.”
“And you blame said little girl for not prioritizing dolls when in a dangerous and overwhelming situation.”
“The doll is your niece’s.”
“The right thing to do is to honor your mother’s wishes.” ~ Horror-Reveal7618
“YTA. My mother would return from the afterlife to haunt me for the rest of my days if I tried to pull something like this.”
“Your mom gave the dolls to your niece.”
“You stole part of a child’s inheritance from the grandmother she will never really have a chance to know.”
“Start your own doll collection and give your niece her property.” ~ Artistic_Ad_9882
“YTA and you’re disgusting. Insinuating a SIX-YEAR-OLD didn’t care for the dolls trying to escape a scary a** hurricane with her parents?”
“Get all the way over yourself.”
“You’re literally stealing candy from a baby.”
“This is damn near predatory behavior.”
“If I were your sister, I’d get the doll and go no contact.”
“You can’t be trusted, clearly.” ~ Albatrossxo
“Nah, YTA.”
“This is exactly what my aunt did after my grandma died.”
“Every granddaughter was left a porcelain doll that my grandma made to look like us, and my aunt tried taking all of them despite my grandma’s wishes.”
“I got lucky my mom was able to take mine before she could pack everything my aunt wanted to take.” ~ lonely_lovergirl
“YTA. It’s a f**king hurricane evacuation, you don’t take every sentimental item you own.”
“The doll IS NOT YOURS. Period.”
“End of statement.”
“It doesn’t f**king matter how attached you are, you had your chance to ask your mother for one and you didn’t.”
“Give her the f**king doll.” ~ ScroochDown
“YTA, the dolls were not yours to give.”
“Your grandma gave them to your niece, even tho she could’ve given them to you.”
“She did not!”
“Right now you’re being a thief.”
“End of story.” ~ Mistress_Anissa
“YTA. You are going against your mother‘s direct wishes and stealing from your niece.”
“Give her the doll; it doesn’t belong to you whether you like it or not.” ~ Conscious-Shoulder14
“YTA. I haven’t seen such a clear-cut case in a long time.”
“You stole a child’s possession.”
“Give it back.” ~ thought
“YTA you ignored your late mother’s expressed wish.”
“The rest of your piece is trying to justify your selfish actions.” ~ Foundation_Wrong
“YTA. Boo! You suck.” ~ numanuma_
OP, you have a rough situation on your hands here.
Reddit is clearly not in your corner.
The doll was never intended to be yours.
Everyone understands your feelings, but this doll doesn’t belong to you.
It sounds like a lot of grief is still stirring here.
But you may need to give this doll to your niece.
Or maybe ask her to buy it?