I think almost all parents will say that they are the only ones who can punish or scold their kids for bad behavior. Nobody likes other parents’ opinions, backseat parenting or being told how they should raise their kids. However, holding a grudge against a child and trying to ‘teach him a lesson’ by not inviting him to a party, well, that’s another level.
Recently, one Reddit user shared her story after one of her 5-year-old twins was not invited to a girl's birthday party by her mom for accidentally entering the women's bathroom.
More info: Reddit
Twins have a special bond; thus inviting one and not the other is extremely rude and hurtful for both of them
image credits: behrouz sasani (not the actual photo)
Mom shares that her 5 Y.O. has trouble reading and on the bathrooms it was just written ‘men’ and ‘women’, so one weekend, he accidentally walked in on one girl’s mom
Image credits: Sung Jin Cho (not the actual photo)
After he came back, telling his mom that he was embarrassed, she assured him that it’s not a big deal, but the woman he opened the door on insisted that he needs to be punished as it’s inappropriate
Image credits: Vlada Karpovich (not the actual photo)
Well, after a few days, the woman’s daughter was giving out birthday invites and gave one to one twin, but not the other
Image credits: mama-of-4-232
Mom is livid as holding that much of a grudge against a 5 Y.O. is insane and she is considering calling the other mom to confront her about the whole situation
A Reddit user recently posted a story online asking netizens if it would be a jerk move to call a little girl’s mom to confront her after one of her twins was not invited to the girl's birthday party. The post received a lot of attention and collected 5.5K upvotes and almost 2K comments.
The original poster (OP) starts her story by explaining that she has twin 5-year-old boys. They are well-mannered and always get along with their peers, but OP notes that one of them, named Jude, is a slow reader. Now, the main incident happened at their synagogue where the bathroom signs say ‘men’ and ‘women’ with no little picture and they are single bathrooms.
He accidentally walked in on a woman, the mother of a little girl who is the twins' peer. He said sorry and immediately ran away to his mom. She assured him that it’s not a big deal. However, the woman had a different opinion. She came up to OP saying that the boy needs to be punished as there’s no way that he can’t read like her daughter can.
Well, one day, that woman's daughter was handing out invites to her birthday party and one twin got an invite while the other didn’t. The boys asked why and were told that the girl's mother said not to give it to Jude. OP shares that she’s livid as giving an invite to only one of the twins is rude and passive-aggressive and it’s ridiculous to hold such a grudge against a 5-year-old kid.
Community members backed up the author and gave her the ‘Not the A-hole’ badge in this situation, discussing how even adults who can read accidentally walk into the wrong bathrooms. “I feel like the mom is embarrassed she forgot to lock the door and is projecting the blame on the poor kid so she doesn't feel foolish,” one user wrote. “The fact the woman thinks a kid should be punished for what pretty clearly was an accident says a lot,” another added.
Image credits: Keira Burton (not the actual photo)
“Although it might be tempting to ‘punish’ another parent through invites or the lack of one to a kid's birthday party, I think it's a terrible idea,” Samantha, who is a parental blogger and the founder of Walking Outside in Slippers, shared with Bored Panda. She adds that disagreements should be handled like adults by discussing them and inviting all the children that our kids want to include at their birthday party.
Now, while parents may have different approaches on disciplinary methods or values, Samantha notes that open communication is paramount in difficult situations with other parents. “I've had my own share of troubles with navigating confusing signals and actions from other parents, and have not always come out clear on where they stand. But I try to stay above the fray, and act in a way that demonstrates mature behavior for my kids.”
Also, she emphasizes that she believes kids should not be punished for their parents’ actions. Well, unless there is a situation where you are forced to depend on that troublesome parent for something you don't believe they can follow through on.
Finally, sometimes parents want to ‘win’ some fight that they have with others and don’t care about any lines. Samantha shares that kids are always watching their parents, for better or worse. “We need to be aware of this while interacting with other parents. By simply going through our days and regular social interactions, our kids are learning from us.”
And what do you guys think about this story? Should OP confront the woman for her ‘revenge’ on the little boy? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Redditors shamed the girl's mother and her behavior towards the kid
