AITA for smoking a cigarette near my (M23) 3 year old niece?

A Redditor (23M) describes an incident where he smoked a cigarette outdoors, about 15 feet away from his 3-year-old niece and downwind to minimize exposure. His sister (24F), who regularly vapes and smokes marijuana near her child, became upset and told him he should have waited until they were gone.

Later, their dad (50M) texted, saying he should know better than to smoke around his niece, leaving the Redditor wondering if he was truly in the wrong. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for smoking a cigarette near my (M23) 3 year old niece?’

My sister (F24) and I (M23) were in the backyard where I proceeded to have a cigarette. I moved to the other side of the yard roughly 15 feet away from my niece down wind to smoke. I was blowing my smoke down wind as well.

My sister then get angry at me saying “do you have to do that now? not when we were gone?” for reference my sister is a full time stoner and vapes right beside her child all day, everyday.

she even tells my niece “mommy is going to go smoke” so she obviously isn’t trying to hide unhealthy habits from my niece. My sister then heads inside and about 30 seconds later I get a text from my dad (M50) who then tells me that I should know better than to smoke in front of my niece. AITA?

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

Scaredoflove11 −  ESH no one should smoke in front of kids. Not your sister. Not you. You’re the a**hole but shes no peach either

Optimal-Island-5846 −  YTA. Don’t smoke in front of kids. Rest doesn’t matter.

Mortydelo −  ESH don’t smoke anywhere near kids

[Reddit User] −  Yeah, don’t smoke by kids. I have nieces and a nephew. I used to step behind the house to smoke so they didn’t see it. It’s just better not to give any ideas or show support of the habit.

Important_Room_663 −  I’ve had 5 sets of tubes in my ears because my step dad smoked. I used to drive the car he smoked in. I had constant ear infections. I had to go have surgery at 5 years old. All the way to 15 years old.. You are both major assholes.

I have so much scarring inside my ears that I can barely hear out of my right ear. Neither of you should smoke and then wear those clothes around the child. She should not be high all day with a baby.

I hate you both. But at least you went away from the kid. You’re sister is a terrible parent. And you need to report her for getting high all day long next to a child. Especially if she smokes pot and drives.

GodHatesPOGsv2025 −  YTA. Stop smoking in general. Disgusting.

LvMeAzn69 −  YTA. Don’t smoke near kids full stop. The sister is just as much an a**hole for being so nonchalant with her own habits but if you are actually trying to be conscious of the child just don’t do it near her whatsoever.

thedesthstarkristy −  Don’t smoke near kids. I got second hand smoke from people now I have asmtha.

Free-Air4312 −  YTA for smoking in front of your niece. Your sister is also an AH for smoking next to her daughter and even outright saying she’s gonna smoke. Smoking should never be done near kids or at the very least not where a kid can see.

I myself smoke and I’ll at least excuse myself and go somewhere it won’t affect anyone, for example if I have a vape I’ll go to the bathroom or my car and if I’m gonna smoke marijuana then I’ll wait till no one’s outside.

Imaginary_Poetry_233 −  NTA. The kid is going to see a lot of less than ideal things in this world, and there is nothing your sister can do about it. I also get the impression that this happened at your house. You were outside and away from your niece. If that wasn’t enough for her she could have taken her inside.

Was the Redditor being considerate by smoking at a distance, or should he have waited until the child wasn’t around? How would you handle a similar situation when it comes to family and smoking around children? Share your thoughts below!