Dear Prudence,
Packages constantly get stolen in our apartment complex so I usually send packages to the parents of my girlfriend (with their blessing). I ordered several large and expensive Lego sets after finishing a major project as a reward for myself. They got delivered to the house but went missing in the few days it took me to swing by. The delivery driver shot a picture of the packages and my girlfriend’s mom swore she left them in the laundry room for me. What happened was my girlfriend’s stepsister, “Amy,” helped herself to the packages. She claimed she thought they were hers and when she opened them her sons went crazy and wanted to play with them. Amy didn’t see the “harm.” Her sons destroyed over $2,000 in Lego sets and all I got was a tub of mismatched pieces.
I told Amy that if she paid for the replacements we would call it even. Amy claimed she didn’t have the money because she was saving to fix up her car, and a real man shouldn’t be playing with toys. I threatened to take it to small claims court which is when Amy’s father stepped in and paid me back. Now things are very frosty between my girlfriend and her family. Initially, my girlfriend was on my side but now makes comments about how I escalated things and should have let it go. We finally had a fight where I told her it wasn’t my fault that Amy was a damn, dirty thief and that what she did wasn’t any different than taking money out of my wallet. I am now sending packages to my workplace and it is a hassle since I work hybrid. I thought I had a pretty good relationship with my girlfriend and her parents until this. Is this a red flag or not?
—Let Go of My Lego