Aunt Tells 8-Year-Old Niece She Doesn’t Love Her During Argument: ‘Mean Little Girl’
On Reddit, a woman revealed she became so frustrated by her 8-year-old niece during a tantrum that she told the little girl she didn't love her anymore.
The woman has two nieces: her sister Kim's 8-year-old daughter, Laura, and her brother Tom's 6-year-old daughter, Amy. She explained that Kim frequently gives in to her daughter's demands and has a hard time saying "no."
"Amy is a sweet energetic little girl [who] listens and knows to respect people's rules/boundaries, Laura does not," the aunt wrote via Reddit. "Laura is entitled. Laura is impatient. Laura is whiny. Laura will throw a massive tantrum if she is denied anything..."
The woman revealed she even refuses to babysit Laura, but is happy to see Amy whenever she has the opportunity.
After some friends backed out from a Disney trip, the woman decided to invite her brother Tom and his family along for the trip.
"They were delighted and we all decided to go, [but] obviously Kim found out and wanted to come too but we all knew she couldn't afford it, so I thought everything was settled," the woman continued.
The vacation snub soon resulted in an argument during a family dinner. During the argument, Laura kept badgering her aunt to invite them along and foot the bill.
"[She] said, 'Auntie, you have a nice job and no kids ... you can pay [for] everything… you can pay for me and mommy to go,'" the woman wrote, noting she refused to invite or offer to pay for them. Her refusal caused Laura to throw a fit.
"It was awful and she kept screaming 'Why' and saying that if I really loved her I'd make her happy by paying for the trip," the aunt shared, revealing she finally snapped.
"I finally snapped and yelled back that I didn't love her. That she was a mean little girl and that I didn't like being around her," the woman admitted.
The woman's Reddit post was met with mixed reactions in the comments, with some chastising her for talking to a child the way she did and others suggesting the 8-year-old had it coming.
"Words hurt and can not be taken back. You could have said, 'I don't love the way you are acting,' rather than telling her that you don't love her. You are not obligated to pay for her, but you are obligated to be conscious of your words," one person wrote.
"Your niece is eight...You screamed at her that you don't love her and that she's a mean little girl? Really? The appropriate thing to do would've been to stop replying to her at all and tell your sister to deal with it. Walk away from the situation," another user commented.
"Yes, it wasn’t great to yell at an 8 year old, but her parent did not at any point step in and stop her daughter. Yes, in an ideal world OP [original poster] could have said 'your behavior doesn’t make me want to be around you very much' but an 8 year old isn’t a toddler, and should know the concept that people can get angry or upset more than they meant to," someone else weighed in.
"Her mom should have cut the conversation short after you said no. Harsh af yes. But I mean Kim should control her daughter if she doesn't want her feelings to get hurt," another user wrote.