A woman shared her frustration with a neighbor’s 10-year-old daughter, who she said repeatedly prevented her 3-year-old son from playing with the neighbor’s 5-year-old son. The woman said the situation had been bothering her and that she was growing tired of it. The post was shared in r/AmItheAsshole on Nov. 2 and had drawn 128 comments at the time of publication.
The woman began by explaining that her 3-year-old son had gone to the neighbors’ yard to play with their 5-year-old son. However, she said the neighbor’s older daughter, who is 10, repeatedly took her son away from her younger brother.
Recalling one incident, she wrote that her son was playing alone in their yard when the neighbor’s younger son called him over to play. However, the sister immediately called the 3-year-old over to play with her, upsetting her younger brother. The Reddit user then asked the girl to let the boys play together.
The woman added that the neighbor’s son later asked his sister to ride her scooter, but she instead took the 3-year-old and asked him to ride with her. This upset her brother. She said the girl was riding so fast that her son fell and started crying, prompting her to intervene and ask the girl to stop. “But all this little girl did was look at me like I was the wrong one; she didn't even say anything.”
“My son, who's 3, is barely old enough to make decisions for himself. This type of behavior from the girl makes me not allow my son to go over and play because she's always inserting herself. I'm not sure if I should tell their mother that she's too big to be playing with my son,” she wrote. She added that when the children's grandmother was outside watching them, she would remind her granddaughter that she was too old to be playing with the younger children.
The woman concluded, “Again, I dont want to come off as an a-shole or b-tch, but I'm definitely getting tired of it. My husband says I'm overreacting because they're just kids, but I know my mom would have said the same to me, that I'm too big to be playing with a 3- and 5-year-old.”
The comments section featured mixed reactions. One commenter disagreed with the woman, writing, “She’s in HER yard. Yes, YTA for attempting to tell her what to do in her own yard when you aren’t her parent. If you want to keep your son out of their yard, you’re free to do so.”
Another commenter also disagreed, writing, “I understand where you’re coming from, but you’re coming off as pretty entitled. I would be so annoyed if you sent your kid into my yard, and then tried to scold my daughter who is simply trying to play. If you don’t want her playing with your kid, then don’t send your kid into HER yard.”
A third user wrote, “Sorry but YTA here. If this is bothering you so much, it seems like you need to keep your son in your yard and be his main playmate or find another 3yo for him to play with. Honestly, at 5 I wasn’t too interested in playing with a toddler.”
The Daily Dot could not independently verify the claims made in the thread. The details reflect the user's account as shared in r/AmItheAsshole. The user's identity and the events described have not been confirmed.
