A mother has sparked a parenting debate after revealing that she required her 18-year-old daughter to sign a lease to continue living at home.
The mother, who goes by the username @c_d_g on TikTok, shared a video last month of her daughter signing the housing agreement, which requires her to pay $100 a month for her childhood room.
In the clip, which is set to “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” from the musical Annie, the woman’s daughter could be seen looking over the document before signing her name.
“When your 18 year old decides to stay at home,” the mother wrote in a text caption on the video, before describing the situation as a “teaching moment” and her way of “setting [her daughter] up for success”.
According to the one-year lease, the TikToker’s daughter is required to pay the “landlord” $100 in monthly rent for the duration of the agreement. The document says payment is required on the first of each month and “shall be considered late by the 10th day”.
“Payment information: All rent payments due under this agreement shall be made directly to the landlord or transferred to the landlord’s bank account from the tenant,” the lease states, in part.
In the caption of the video, the mother added the hashtags #setupforsuccess and #myhousemyrules.
The video, which has been viewed more than 1.6m times, has since sparked a debate among viewers, with many critical of the parenting tactic.
“I’m glad my parents love me,” one person commented, while another said: “‘Setting her up for success,’ bro you’re setting her up to never speak to you again.”
“I’m so glad my parents provide a safe space for me unconditionally, I know I always have a place at home regardless of finances,” someone else wrote.
Others shared similar experiences with their own parents that ended badly, with one person writing: “My parents did this and we no longer talk! So good luck I guess.”
However, according to some viewers, if the teenager’s mother were to save the money her daughter paid in rent to give to her when she did move out, the parenting tactic would be more understandable.
“I think this is valid if you put the money away in savings for your kid to use for an actual down payment on something or for college, otherwise…idk,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Take rent from her but save it all up and give it back to her once she moves out or gets married.”
There were also those who defended the lease considering the cost, which is significantly less than the teenager would pay to live on her own.
“Guys it will prepare her for paying ACTUAL rent if she learns to pay mom ‘rent’ before she moves out!! It’s $100 a month. Come on,” one viewer said.
In a follow-up video, the mother addressed some of the questions she received about the lease, as well as why she decided to create the agreement for her daughter. The mother explained that her own parents did not “set [her] up for success,” which meant that she had to “fight for every single thing” on her own when she became a single mother at 16.
“And I don’t want my children to have to do that. So everything I do prepares them for the real world,” she said, adding that she does not want her children to have to depend on her for “anything”.
The TikToker then claimed that she made the lease agreement so that her daughter will have an established renter history when she does move out and so that the 18 year old could gain experience reading a “legal document”. In regards to the cost of the monthly rent, the mother said that it is the only bill that her daughter pays as she doesn’t have to pay for her car insurance or her phone bill.
“Now, she does have the right to move out if she wants to. But, in this economy, it would be a lot harder for her if she did move out,” the mother continued.
The Independent has contacted @c_d_g for comment.
