Recently, a mother who felt both guilty and justified after a late-night altercation with her son’s pals looked to Reddit for guidance. The 48-year-old nurse explained in a post on Reddit’s sAITAHforum how a straightforward request for silence turned into a heated argument, and she eventually asked one of her son’s friends to leave her house.
The woman, a long-hour nurse, started by establishing the scene. “I keep my home organized, even though I work full-time and am frequently exhausted,” she said. “Not a mansion or anything,” she said, “but it’s clean, it’s mine, and I like my peace.”
One evening, a handful of pals were asked over by her 16-year-old son, Jake. According to her, the boys spent their time in the living room playing Xbox or something similar, munching chips, and yelling like normal, just like most teenagers do.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for the mother. She was expected back at the hospital the next morning after finishing a demanding day shift. She couldn’t relax because of the loudness around 10:30 p.m.
She made the courteous decision to step in. I simply stated, “Hey guys, can we turn it down a little?” without shouting. “Very casual,” she remembered. She expected her request to be honored, so she returned to her bedroom after the teenagers consented without protest.
But a few minutes later, she heard one of Jake’s pals publicly making fun of her. “Bro, your mom’s being a buzzkill tonight,” she said dismissively to the group, referring to Liam as she identified him. The mother laid in bed in shock as the adolescents burst out laughing at the comment. Really, I just kind of lay there. In my home?
Unable to tolerate the rudeness, she went back into the living room to confront the matter. She addressed Liam directly and said, You are a visitor to my home. Perhaps you don’t need to be here tonight if I’m asking you to be courteous.
Although she acknowledged that her tone may have come out as forceful, she stuck by her statements. He mumbled an apology and looked quite uncomfortable, so I answered, “Yeah, okay, I think it’s time to go.”
Liam departed as the room became quiet. Jake did not say anything at the moment, but later accused his mother of embarrassing him and overreacting. He believed that she had expelled his friend without cause.
But the mother struggled with self-doubt and a sense of justification. She acknowledged on the internet, “I’m sitting here wondering if I was too harsh.” She admitted to being exhausted that day and questioned whether her weariness affected her reaction, but she was also adamant that the disrespect in her own household went too far. Like, sure, I could have forgiven that, but it’s my house, darn it? I won’t tolerate such disrespect just because I requested some silence.
She was mostly reassured by Reddit commenters that she was innocent. When his friend angrily talked off about not being allowed to do what he wanted in someone else’s house, your son should have asked him to respect your need for rest, according to one user. NTA.
Additionally, I would talk to your son about what it’s like to work at your job all day. For the record, my parents’ work weren’t nearly as physically taxing, and they would never tolerate that kind of language in their home. We children were appreciative of what they did for us.
She felt some relief from the encouraging comments. She wrote, “Thanks, I’ll talk to him,” in response to commenters. On both sides, there might be some ness.
Her essay demonstrates how parenting may be challenging, particularly when dealing with teenagers, as there is a great deal of potential for misunderstandings, even about seemingly simple matters.
