You can’t control everything. That’s lesson one you learn with kids and pets.
It’s the special quirks that can get a pet’s owner into a little hot water now and again.
Case in point…
Our Redditor Helpmepls1898 wanted to discuss his story for some feedback. So naturally he came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
He asked:
“AITA for not punishing my parrot for cursing around my nephew and niece?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“Ok this is a weird one. Longtime lurker first time poster, and I’m on mobile so formatting might be a little weird. Also using throwaway.”
“I (22 m[ale]) have an African grey parrot.”
“His name is Storm because I love X-Men and he is light grey like a cloud. I love him with all my heart as does my girlfriend (24 f[emale]).”
“My brother (31m) and S[ister] I[n] L[aw] (27f) usually don’t have a problem with him and allow their kids to play with him as long as I’m watching.”
“I work from home and live alone (girlfriend has her own place).”
“When doing work or chores, and I mess something up, I can make sailors blush lol. I don’t curse that much around other people.”
“African greys can learn words and say them, so Storm has a, let’s say, colorful vocabulary.”
“When I’m alone/with my gf and he curses we just laugh it off.”
“I also may have encouraged him cursing because he knows that if he curses I may give him more food because I find it funny.”
“Anyway a couple of hours ago my brother, SIL, and their kids show up (kids are 12m and 7f if that’s important).”
“So they come in, we eat dinner and the kids want to play with Storm.”
“So I get him out of his cage and they are holding him and feeding him out of their hands.”
“I make the mistake of giving them the same food I give him more of if he curses. You can see where this is going.” “
“My nephew feeds him a snack and Storm says ‘F**KING HELL’ at the top of his bird lungs.”
“Everyone freezes and then Storm adds ‘HELL’ one more time before I take him back to his cage.”
“When I go back down nephew is laughing along with gf, niece is confused, and brother and SIL look FURIOUS.”
“They ask if I said that and I had to pull up YouTube just to prove that parrots can talk.”
“Then they calm down and ask how I’m gonna punish Storm. I’m confused and ask them what they mean.”
“They say you punish someone to stop them from doing things. I say I won’t punish Storm and they leave.”
“Then I get a text saying they won’t come back until I apologize. GF thinks I should say I did to keep the peace.”
“Nephew and niece want to see Storm again.”
“AITA? Should I lie and say I punished him, taking the risk this may happen again?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors believed our OP was NOT the A**hole.
But it’s still a tricky situation.
Let’s hear some thoughts…
“NTA. Punish a parrot? I mean… what are they expecting you to do? Spank him? Ground him from electronics? Maybe give him an early bedtime?” ~ NUT-me-SHELL
“We had a sulphur crested cockatoo, very smart bird.”
“Anyhoo my father was involved in the local under 18’s footy team and they came over for BBQs all the time anyway once night whilst drink these guys decided that she needed a new vocabulary.”
“She got moved to the back corner of our yard (effectively a timeout) until she stopped yelling out her new words.”
“I think our was mostly because we lived near a primary school. Not to mention I was only like 9 and my parents were big on the no swearing.” ~ AngelsAttitude
“This is amazing.”
“Punishment doesn’t even work on parrots. They only understand positive reinforcement.”
“If your parrot bites you and you ‘punish’ him by putting him back in his cage, soon enough he’s gonna start biting you every time he wants to go back in his cage.”
“I have a parrot (black headed caique). He’s the most stubborn little creature but also the sweetest little baby ever.”
“He actually said his first words today… GO POOPIE!” ~ ertrinken
“NTA, all of this and probably also no Christmas gifts and 20 hours of community service.”
“I did lose all hopes when I read that OP had to pull up YouTube videos to prove to bro and SIL that parrots can talk.” ~ unpopularcryptonite
“The parrot doesn’t even know that he curses. He just repeats words that others used. To ask for a bird to be punished… wtf?! “
Some people make me speechless with their stupidity. NTA.” ~ Acceptable-Abalone20
“Tell your SIL you had a long conversation with Storm and he explained that he’s been under a lot of stress lately and he’s sorry for the inconvenience his behavior caused.”
“I mean, how the heck are you supposed to explain s**t to a bird? Lol It’s a bird!” ~ Hot_Night_6109
“You are NTA and thank you much for the laugh (as I imagine everyone’s faces). The extra ‘hell’ just for good measure got a snort out of me!”
“F[or] Y[our] I[nformation] in case you ever want kids… 3 year olds are also FANTASTIC at this!!” ~ Bubbly_Preference688
“NTA. my mom’s family inherited a parrot once. They couldn’t understand a single word it said and it was surprisingly old for a parrot.”
“Her aunt took it to a linguistics expert at the local university to let him listen to try to understand what it was.”
“Little parrot dude was cussing them all out in very old spanish dialect.”
“The linguistics specialist suspected he once belonged to a pirate ( he was given to them in the 1940s) and that he was close to 100 years old.”
“He passed before mom was born but her aunt told the story often.” ~ LittlestEcho
“NTA. Make sure they don’t have a key, and are never left alone with the parrot.”
“‘Had to pull up YouTube just to prove that parrots can talk.’ On what planet do adults not know that already – were they kidding?” ~ Unit-Healthy
Pets can be so naughty. They certainly keep life interesting.
Hopefully this family can have a calm chat and a good laugh about this down the road.