Mom Asks If She Was Wrong To Pick Up Her Son From A Sleepover After His Friend's Parent Refused To Let Him Shower

Mar 21, 2023

Most parents try to create a set of rules for their children to follow, especially during their formative years, and that’s probably fine. After all, parents only want the best for their children. Then again, some rules can be too much, possibly getting children hurt in the process. Perhaps that’s the time when a parent should re-evaluate those rules and make changes if necessary. At the end of the day, it’s always important to keep in mind the welfare of the child. But what if the parent of another child imposes a rule on your own child because your child was in their house? What would you do? Well, one mom made sure to get her child from that house right away.

In April 2022, a 30-year-old mom took to Reddit to share the experience of her 8-year-old son in the hands of another mom after she let him stay at their house.

The mom started by sharing the kind of friendship her son Jason has with his best friend named Brandon.

According to the mom, Jason has been inseparable from Brandon ever since they were in daycare. Apart from the two kids, the mom is also friends with Brandon’s mom Ashley.

“I have a son Jason who has a best friend named Brandon the boys have been attached at the hip since they were in daycare. Brandon's mom, Ashley and I are friendly and speak frequently because of the boys,” she said.

The mom said she doesn’t let other kids stay at her home because she feels like kids are still dependent at their age. But Brandon was an exception because his mom Ashley doesn’t have the same rules that she has on not allowing her child to stay overnight at other’s people’s houses.

But one day, she broke her own rules and let her son stay at Brandon’s place because he asked her. She also figured that she and her husband could have the weekend to themselves as their daughter was staying at her mom’s house.

But while they were enjoying their time with each other, Jason called her to tell her he wanted to come home because he wasn’t allowed to take a shower. Ashley’s reason? They have a “bath day” at their house. When she tried to call Ashley to ask if she could allow Jason to take a bath, Ashley said no because that’s her rule. Instead of getting into an argument, she simply agreed with her.

“I asked him why and what was wrong. He said Ashley wouldn’t allow him to take a shower because it wasn’t a bath day. BATH DAY? I immediately call Ashley and inform her that Jason needs a shower and if she could just allow him to do so. She basically explained to me that since my child is in her home he must follow her rules (which is fair), I agreed with her and hung up,” the mom said.

But the mom didn’t just let her son stay at Ashley’s home as she made sure to pick him up right away since he asked her to.

“I called Jason back and told him that I would be there soon to get him and just be ready, he was very happy about coming home. I wouldn’t have picked him up if he said no but surprisingly he already had his bag packed,” she said.

The mom then arrived at Ashley’s house with the latter waiting for her outside. Ashley then called her out for allegedly teaching her son not to follow other people’s rules.

The mom then told Ashley that she simply didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. Ashley, on the other hand, responded by saying she only allowed Brandon to take a shower twice in her home, even though it was against her rules. In her defense, Jason’s mom said she didn’t do anything about it since Brandon seemed OK with it and didn’t feel that Ashley’s son felt uncomfortable about the whole situation.

Meanwhile, Jason’s mom made it clear that her son and Brandon are still friends despite the incident.

“I would also like to add the boys are still besties! Ashley and I set up a sleepover at my place this weekend for them we agreed bath day doesn’t fit my kid and went back to our regular schedule,” she said.  

There were varying opinions about whether or not the mom was in the wrong for picking up her child, with some saying it shouldn’t be an issue about whether or not a kid should take a shower for a day.

But the mom quickly responded by saying it wasn’t about the shower but about her child feeling uncomfortable.

Then again, most of them sided with the mom, saying there was nothing wrong with what she did.

“Because you got your child when he asked to go home. He followed her rules and decided it would be better for him to go home than keep following her rules,” one person said.

“Removing your kid from an uncomfortable situation is always a good thing. But I’m honestly baffled at these people who never showered at sleepovers or never have their kids shower at them? Like, what?” another person said.

What would you do if you were in this situation? Do you think other parents should be able to parent your child when you're not around? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family and friends.