We can all agree that whenever we plan an event, it would be great if everything would just go according to plan. But sometimes that just doesn’t happen.
And sometimes the changes in plan can be quite disruptive, pointed out the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor PerformanceNo7439 recently organized a gaming event with a few friends, only for a 9-year-old to be thrown into the mix.
After being criticized for their reaction, the Original Poster (OP) wondered if they were wrong for how they handled the situation.
They asked the sub:
“AITA for not letting my friend’s child play on my PS5?”
The OP’s gaming session didn’t go as expected.
“I invited some gamer friends over to play games together.”
“One of them arrived with his 9-year-old son. He told me his wife was busy so he had to bring his son with him.”
“I was annoyed because I hate children, and my friend had just shown up with one without any prior notification, but I told him it would be fine as long as his son was quiet.”
The child didn’t respond well to the adult-only session.
“After a couple of minutes, the 9-year-old asked, ‘Can I play?'”
“I told him no, this is a gaming session for adults.”
“So then he started screaming and crying and went over to the PS5 and touched it in random places until he found the reset button and pressed it.”
“Then he turned the TV off.”
“Then he grabbed a cushion and started angrily beating it on the couch, all while still screaming and crying.”
“So I told my friend to leave and take his son with him.”
Not everyone appreciated the OP’s response.
“My other friends are telling me that I was harsh and should have just let him play with us.”
“But I don’t want to have to dumb the game down to a child’s level just to prevent him from having a tantrum.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes
Some agreed that was quite the tantrum.
“He’s NINE! I would not expect this type of reaction from my five-year-old at someone else’s house.”
“In our own home on a bad day and he’s tired and hungry, then yeah, I can see him having that level of reaction.”
“But even in the privacy of our own home, he’s expected to accept a no.”
“Not saying he would easily accept a no, but it would be expected that he doesn’t become a raging a**hole, AND HE IS FIVE.”
“NTA” – i_was_a_person_once
“NTA.”
“PS5 is h**la expensive and hard to get right now. Also, it’s yours, you don’t have to let someone use it.”
“If your friends don’t respect that, get better friends. Who lets their kid throw a tantrum and grope all on someone’s expensive tech? Crazy s**t.” – VelvetRaynet
“NTA. 2 of my closest friends are fathers, and they know not to let their kids even come close to reaching that point when we’re gaming, hanging out, or watching movies.”
“Sounds like bad parenting to me.” – Pretend_Mine_5909
“NTA. Your friend really should have bought things to entertain the child. It’s not difficult.”
“A 9-year-old is way, way too old to behave like that. It’s not normal behavior at all and your friend should have stepped in before he actually touched anything.” – tbeckvcgvcgws
“NTA. DUDE. That kid is f**king with your console, yanking at cords, and interfering with play in-session. He clearly can’t be trusted around an expensive piece of gaming equipment.” – AnatasiaRomani
Others agreed and said the dad should have come more prepared.
“NTA”
“The friend should have controlled his child or brought something to keep him entertained. You did the right thing by making them leave.” – OrcEight
“NTA. It’s up to the parent to deal with the kid. If he didn’t have childcare, he should have stayed home or given you a heads-up text letting you know the situation, so this whole thing wouldn’t have happened.” – egoraphobic
“NTA. I always have to minus 3-5 years from a post about a child’s behavior on here before it makes any sense to me. Throwing a tantrum like that at his age is just embarrassing.”
“His dad was an a** for bringing him without asking in the first place, especially if the dad knows his son acts out like this wherever he is.”
“I’d like to say the son may have some developmental problems, but so many kids these days seem to act several years younger than their age, so perhaps it’s just that a certain type of bad parenting has become widespread.”
“Your other friends can take a hike.”
“I can easily imagine Bratty McTantrum throwing the controller in a rage. You shouldn’t have to risk your expensive possessions being damaged because some entitled parent brings their ill-behaved child to your house.”
“That type of parent is exactly the type to think they shouldn’t have to pay for damage too, as ‘That’s just what kids do,’ or some other hand-washing rationalization for irresponsibility.” – jwjnthrowawaykfeiofj
“NTA, I also don’t really enjoy kids. I can usually be nice enough, but I would not want one coming to an adults-only gaming day/night.”
“The friend should’ve asked first or just withdrew from the night and said he’ll be there next time.”
“If I want to spend time with my friends including their children, I’ll make a specific plan for it; otherwise, I’m pretty much a no child area.” – elynian
“I’m not a ‘kid person,’ and not a fan of hosting kids at my apartment, but at least if there’s some prior communication, we can figure out what the kid will be doing to keep occupied.”
“This could’ve gone better if OP’s friend had called ahead saying, ‘Hey man, I got the kid today, can I bring him with me?'”
“OP: ‘Uh, maybe, is he gonna want to play with us?'”
“Friend: ‘Ahhh, you know what, he might, would you be okay with that?'”
“OP: ‘Not really, I wanted this to be an adults-only gaming session. Does he have a DS or Switch he can play to keep him occupied?'”
“Friend: ‘No, I think he’s gonna have a hard time if he can’t play with us, maybe I should sit this one out.'”
“OP: ‘That’s cool, see you another time!'” – VisualCelery
Though the friends didn’t totally agree with how the OP handled the situation, the subReddit understood why they were upset.
The child had a serious tantrum around expensive gaming equipment, the OP didn’t know the child would be there, and the child’s parent didn’t properly plan to keep the child preoccupied while everyone else was gaming.
That sounds like a recipe for disaster, not a fun gaming night.