TikTok user @jenna..flowers is opening up about why she is no longer speaking to her 13-year-old sister. In a video posted to the platform, Jenna describes the ongoing conflict and asks viewers whether she should install a fingerprint lock on her bedroom door. At the time of publication, the video had received 21.3 million views and 24,906 comments.
Jenna says she has four siblings: an older sister, a younger brother, a younger sister and a 3-year-old brother. For 10 years, her 13-year-old sister was the youngest child in the family.
"She is the epitome of the youngest sister. She doesn't care about anyone else's stuff. She will curse you out no matter where you're at. She is just very destructive," Jenna says.
Jenna says she tries to be a good sister and gets along well with her 20-year-old sister and youngest brother. However, she says she has a more difficult relationship with her younger siblings.
After her family moved over the summer, Jenna began spending more time around her 13-year-old sister. She says her sister would follow her wherever she went, often expecting Jenna to pay for her things. She also alleges that her sister regularly takes her belongings and damages them without regard for her property.
Jenna says she went on a three-day trip to visit some old friends. One night, she received a text from her brother asking whether she was home. She reminded him that she was away, and he told her someone was sleeping in her bed. At first, Jenna thought he was joking.
When her mother picked her up from the airport, she asked Jenna whether she wanted to hear what had happened while she was away. Her mother confirmed that Jenna's sister had been sleeping in her bed and had taken several of her clothes.
Jenna was upset by the news. She explained that whenever she goes on vacation, she makes a point of cleaning her room so she can return to a tidy space. Finding out that her sister had been in her room made her worry that she would come home to a mess. Her mother also told her that her sister had been eating Cheetos in her bed.
When Jenna got home, she immediately checked the laundry and found that her sister had damaged 10 items of clothing during the three days she was away. She said they were some of her nicer pieces, including a $125 Free People sweater and another sweater she had spent a month working to save up for.
"And all over the sleeves was like orange. So I think she was wearing it, which was about bed, eating the Hot Cheetos," Jenna says.
She also found about 15 more pieces of clothing in her room that she said her sister had damaged, including a pair of her underwear. Jenna clarified that she doesn't mind someone borrowing her clothes, as she has borrowed clothes herself, but expects people to return them without ruining them.
Jenna added that she had recently found her mascara in her sister's room, too. She ended the video by asking viewers whether she should get a fingerprint lock or something similar for her bedroom door. She also wondered whether she was overreacting.
TikTok users say Jenna has a right to protect her personal space
Some commenters criticized Jenna's parents for what they viewed as a lack of intervention in the situation.
"I'm so sorry your parents are essentially failing at parenting and your sister is acting terribly - you deserve so much better and this is NOT normal. i hope things get better and tbh therapy wouldn't," one user wrote.
Others agreed that Jenna should consider buying a fingerprint lock or another type of lock her sister couldn't access.
"everyone telling you that you're over reacting doesn't know what it's like to lose control of their personal space w/ no one to defend them. and think this is normal but it can become too much," another commenter wrote.
A third user shared their own experience with family conflict, writing, "Please do not let people make you feel bad about you decision. I have cut as much contact as possible with my younger brother since he was around that age as well and 4 years later it still"
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made by TikTok creator @jenna..flowers, which are based solely on her personal account shared in the video.
