AITAH for not letting my niece keep her old bedroom?
A man recently decided to move into his inherited home after his brother’s family relocated due to medical needs, which led to complications regarding living arrangements. His teenage niece requested to stay but was unhappy about having to move into a smaller office instead of keeping her upstairs bedroom.
Despite the family’s objections, he felt it was necessary to prioritize his daughter’s need for her own space, but after reflecting on the situation, he and his wife reconsidered the arrangement altogether—follow the story below to see how this family dynamic unfolds.
‘AITAH for not letting my niece keep her old bedroom?’
My brother and his family had to move to a different city because of their sons medical needs. I actually own the house they lived in, but I didn’t need that much space at the time I inherited it so I let my brothers family live there. Since they were moving my wife and I thought now would be a good time to move into the house ourselves.
My brother’s teenage daughter really did not want to move and go to a different school. She asked instead to stay with us. We talked about it and agreed to it so long as she didn’t get into trouble and helped around the house. We also told her she would have to use the office downstairs as a bedroom instead of keeping her upstairs bedroom.
There are only three bedrooms upstairs. My wife and I would be using the master and the other two bedrooms would be for our two kids (f8 and m4).She was not happy about it because the office is not as good the upstairs bedrooms. Which truthfully is true. It is smaller and does not have an attached bathroom like the bedrooms upstairs.
It also has less natural sunlight so it can feel a little like a dungeon. It also doesn’t have a regular door it has these panel shutter like doors which we can add a latch to, but my niece says less private and secure.The thing is our daughter has been wanting her own bedroom for a while now.
She has shared a bedroom with her younger brother her whole life and she is sick of it. When we had brought up this move to her we had already promised she would get her own room. Given their ages it makes more sense for them to have the bedrooms upstairs close to us rather than farther away downstairs in the office by themselves.
My niece, brother, and sister in law however think it’s mean to “banish” their daughter to the downstairs office when she’s already dealing with enough change. They think that our kids can continue to share a bedroom because they’re still young enough that it doesn’t matter.
Here’s what people had to say to OP:
mogley19922 says:
I didn’t even consider that the larger family was in the smaller house, while they owned the larger one.
Edit: just to avoid any other interesting reply threads, I have been corrected on this by OP.
Low_Charge_2143 says:
My brothers family is actually larger than mine. They have 3 kids and we have 2.
Berrybliss2014 says:
Wow! They got a bargain for a long time!! It’s good that you made it clear to them about your permanent residence. They should have been able to save quite a bit during that time so housing shouldn’t be a huge issue for them
If OP didn’t charge any rent to at least cover maintenance and tax, then the brother is a huge e*titled a*shole to have any expectations. I would feel indebted.
JustKindaHappenedxx says:
Unfortunately, some people become so used to someone else’s generosity that they start to feel e*titled to it.
This scenario illustrates the complexities of family living situations, especially when it comes to sharing spaces and making sacrifices. Is the uncle right to prioritize his daughter’s needs, or should he accommodate his niece during a difficult time? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
