AITA or is this sibling favoritism?
My birthday is coming up soon. I'm turning 20. My mom and stepdad gifted me 2 concert tickets, 1 for me and 1 for whoever I choose to invite (which is one of the things I asked for). I'm very grateful and excited for this concert! I'm a big fan of this artist. But honestly I expected they would match how much they spent on my 16yo brother's birthday gift this year. He got a custom gaming PC for like 3k (I'm not kidding, it was very expensive!). The concert tickets were like 800. So I also asked for a new laptop that's only 1.3k, and in total plus the tickets, it doesn't even come close to what was spent on my brother's gift. So I'm not really asking for them to spend the exact same amount just something comparable.
My mom and stepdad said no. They said they are also paying for my birthday party. That's so unfair. A celebration doesn't count as a gift to me. And it's not like a huge party, there'll only be 30 guests. They think it's fair since my brother just had a backyard BBQ with around 10 people. They also said I don't need a new laptop. Mine still works fine but it'll be nice to upgrade especially since I'll be using it for college not for playing videogames.
I'm very upset. I'm grateful for the party and the concert but I feel like they went above and beyond for my brother. I don't think they have ever spent so much money on gifts for any of us before and it feels excessive. And like they are undermining me. But they said I'm being unreasonable.
They offered to get me the laptop for christmas. But I asked my brother what he wants for christmas and he doesn't know yet. I don't want a repeat of this situation so I need to know we'll be getting gifts of similar value.
Honestly, it feels like they don't value me as much as my brother and that my birthday is less important than his.
My friends think it's not a big deal and I'm being dramatic because the concert tickets are already amazing.
AITA?
On the other hand, my dad is awesome. He never plays favorites. We both get a weekend trip and a shopping spree every year.
Posted Sep 25, 2026, 7:42 PM UTC