06/02/2026
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AITA For escorting my niece home after she messed with my daughter’s doll?
I(34F) have a daughter(11) and a niece(7) that lives about five houses down from us.
My daughter has a decently sized collection of dolls, ranging from American Girl to Baby Alive, she loves all of her dolls dearly and takes very good care of them and understands how precious her more expensive dolls are.
Her favorite doll is an American Girl doll with very curly hair that needs to be taken care of gently, so whenever her cousin comes over she puts her up on a high shelf in her room and is very clear in saying that she cannot and will not play with her doll(s) on the high shelf. She paid for this doll entirely by herself, so it has lots of sentimental value as well.
I don’t find her behavior bad, and I’m happy she’s setting a boundary so as long as my daughter’s rule is followed I don’t interfere.
Yesterday her cousin came over to play as she usually does on the weekends. Everything was going as usual until I heard my daughter screaming bloody m__der. I went upstairs to find her doll clutched in her hands with straight hair. And a brush in my niece’s hand. Turns out my daughter left to go use the bathroom and my niece climbed her nightstand to get her favorite doll and wanted to do her hair.
I comforted my daughter first telling her that this was a fixable thing, and that I’d put her dolls hair in rollers and she’d be fine. I sent her off to her dad so that he could take over while I took over with my niece. I tried explaining to her why touching my daughter’s doll without her permission, especially after she had been told multiple times not to was rude, my niece insisted my daughter was a bully for not letting her play with it and wouldn’t budge.
So I called my sister to make sure an adult was home, packed my niece’s things and walked her home. Before we left I explained to her that she couldn’t touch things my daughter did not want her to touch (despite her still not budging) and that she could come play again if she apologized.
At the door I explained to my other sister who was at their home at the time what happened, I told her I’d call my sister later and that was it for the time being.
Today my sister called me after I left her a voicemail and a text thread explaining everything. She told me her daughter cried saying her aunt and cousin were both bullying her, and proceeded to call my daughter’s doll a “stupid toy” and that my daughter should’ve just let her play with it in the first place. I continued to try and tell her my side but she also wouldn’t listen.
I’m not really sure what to do. I’ve gotten lots of mixed opinions on this whole situation from friends and family. I kind of just want a verdict.
(My daughter renamed her doll so I forgot what her original name was, but she’s a Ruthie! I still don’t know her last name or what collection she’s from but if you want to see her curls there they are.)
Edit; So we’ve taken her hair out of the curlers, entirely ruined. There is quite literally no coming back unless I find a new method or a miracle happens. I’ll probably just have to get her an entirely new wig. Let us all wish farewell to Angela’s curls.
