A father believed he had the right intentions in trying to pay his daughter to lose weight, but the Internet has a different opinion.
The anonymous father took to Reddit to ask whether he was in the wrong for trying to pay his adult daughter to work-out and lose weight now that she lives on her own. He explained the 22-year old has moved out of town in order to pursue graduate studies. He implied that she’s put on a bit of weight since the big change, which has caused him to be concerned.
"I have grown increasingly worried for my daughter's weight. It has gotten beyond the point of merely an aesthetic issue and I have genuine concerns about her health,” he explained. He said that he tried to talk to her about her size, but (unsurprisingly) things didn’t go over well.
The father said he agreed to pay her tuition and rent, while she has a part-time job that covers other expenses like groceries, utility bills, and fun money. Evidently, his daughter has been complaining that she doesn’t have enough extra money to put towards “leisure activities and clothes,” the father wrote.
That’s when the father came up with a ‘solution’- or so he thought. He told his daughter he’d give her extra spending money if she started working out. "I suggested that if she start going to the gym, I would give her extra money,” he wrote. "This is to serve as a motivator but also for practical reasons as she can pick up fewer shifts at her job and have more time to go to the gym." He agreed to pay her $15 per hour, explaining he decided to not ‘pay her by the pounds,’ as it may encourage unhealthy eating habits.
His wife, however, didn’t have a good reaction. The father explains she was “disgusted” by his proposition, which led him to ask the Reddit community whether he was really in the wrong or not. The dad’s originally post has gained over 1,000 comments, with many of the people agreeing that what he did certainly isn’t right or healthy.
"I can see it's out of love but please be careful that this doesn't turn and bite you,” one person wrote. Another person said they’d had a similar experience with their parent and it ended badly. "Please please please please don't do this,” the commenter wrote. "My mum has spent the last 10 years of my life trying to control my weight with bribes, with paying for personal trainers, with all sorts. All it did was push a wedge between us.
At the same time, however, some commenters thought the idea wasn’t so bad. "Most parents handle this much differently - either pushing adult children into diets or bullying them into losing weight. This sounds like an ideal alternative,” one person commented.
What do you think, BabyGaga readers? Was this dad in the wrong? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!