Kate Hackett
Parenting choices are deeply personal and people get really defensive when you call them out on anything. And a lot of the time, for good reason: there is not much justification for sticking your nose in places it doesn’t belong and, unless a child is being abused, it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie…
But is that ALWAYS the case?
In today’s post from Reddit’s AITA thread, u/lavender_sky_11 wanted to know if he was in the wrong for putting his sister in her parenting place with some stern comments. Let’s check it out.
OP is a single dad to a girl and his sister has three boys. She has made being a “boy mom” her whole personality.
I (m33) am a single dad to my daughter (f15). She’s my buddy and I honestly love her so much. My sister (f38) has 3 boys and has made being a boy mom her entire personality. She always goes on about how she loves being a boy mom and how raising boys is so much easier than having a girl. I usually just ignore it.
OP ignores a lot of his sister’s “boys are so much easier than girls” crap, but after a Taylor Swift concert his daughter went to, things came to a head.
My daughter is a huge Taylor Swift fan and I took her to the opener night of the eras tour. I’m not a Taylor swift fan honestly but it was really fun seeing my daughter have so much fun and just overall being so happy.
OP’s daughter was telling her grandmother about the concert and was still riding high after such a fun night. She mentioned an hour-long line for march.
Last night I was over at my mom’s and my daughter pretty much only wanted to talk about the concert. My sister happened to be there too. My daughter ended up talking about having to wait about an hour to get merch.
And then OP’s sister started ranting about how much better boys are because she’d never have to wait in line like that. OP’s daughter was very hurt.
My sister laughed and ended up going on a rant saying how she’s so glad she doesn’t have a daughter and how easy it is raising boys compared to girls and even went as far as to say she feels bad for me having to be a girl dad. My daughter didn’t want to talk anymore and was clearly upset by my sister’s words.
So OP, like any dad at this point, railed at his sister for saying such vile stuff — especially in front of OP’s kid.
That was very upsetting to me. I told my sister she was so wrong to say those things, especially in front of my daughter. And that she’s toxic and honestly stupid for thinking raising boys is easier than raising girls. I told her she needs to find a new personality outside of being a boy mom.
Now his family is saying OP is rude… so… is he?
She ended up leaving while calling me the biggest AH. My mom also accused me of being rude and basically an AH because my sister just loves her boys and I shouldn’t judge her for thinking girls would be more difficult to raise. So AITA?
Some Redditors wondered if OP’s sister was secretly sad she only had boys.
“NTA. It sounds like your sister is projecting. If she had 3 kids on purpose, she 100% wanted a girl and just never got one. So, now that she’s done having kids, she’s using her anti-girl rhetoric and boymom perspective as a coping strategy. That’s just a guess, though. Either way, it’s super weird of her to hyperfixate on the gender of her children that much, and just plain rude to impose that on your daughter. Good for you for standing up for her,” said one user.
Another pointed out a simpler explanation, “Or she’s just a filthy misogynist. Lots of people actually think the way this sister does. OP absolutely NTA. And it was super important for you to say that in front of your daughter. That kind of talk is damaging to young girls.”
