AITA For posting videos of my niece and nephew misbehaving in response to my sister’s complaints that I did not want them at my birthday dinner?

A Reddit user recently shared a situation about their 27th birthday dinner that caused a family conflict. The user asked their sister, Angel, to get a babysitter for her children, Sofia and Parker, due to their behavior, which Angel refuses to discipline. In response, Angel posted a Facebook complaint, accusing the user of excluding her kids.

The user then shared videos of the children misbehaving as evidence. The situation escalated, and the user was called out by family members for embarrassing Angel. Read the original story below to see the full details of this family drama.

‘ AITA For posting videos of my niece and nephew misbehaving in response to my sister’s complaints that I did not want them at my birthday dinner?’

My sister Angel claims to use “hands-off parenting” with my niece Sofia and nephew Parker. In actuality, Angel is entirely permissive and refuses to discipline them.

She expects other adults to step in when Sofia and Parker’s behavior is getting out of hand. For this reason, I asked Angel to get a babysitter for Sofia and Parker if she wanted to attend my 27th birthday. I love Sofia and Parker as their aunt.

And at the same time, I want a peaceful evening to celebrate my birthday instead of dealing with Sofia and Parker’s behavior, because I know Angel isn’t going to discipline them herself.

Angel acted understanding when I made this request and explained my reasons to her in-person, but then she went online and made a Facebook post accusing me of hating Sofia and Parker and trying to punish Angel by only inviting our sister Jessica’s kid Megan to my birthday dinner. (Nevermind that Megan is 17 and is practically an adult herself.)

Several of our relatives and mutual acquaintances called me out and said I was an a**hole and was excluding a 10 and 7-year-old. I responding to Angel’s post by sharing two videos of Sofia and Parker misbehaving while Angel did nothing.

The first video was a recording taken by Megan, where Sofia and Parker were throwing tantrums and yelling at her. Megan was trying to calm Sofia and Parker down while Angel was on her tablet ignoring the situation.

The other video was one that Angel took. Sofia and Parker were yelling, throwing toys at each other, and Parker even called his sister a bad word. Angel was laughing as if it were funny and was again doing nothing to discipline Sofia or Parker.

I wrote alongside the videos that I love Sofia and Parker as their aunt. But at the same time, I want a peaceful evening to celebrate my birthday. And I don’t want to be stuck disciplining Sofia and Parker because clearly Angel won’t. Angel ended up not coming to my birthday at all.

My parents told me that I was in the wrong for sharing those videos, because everyone’s children have acted up and posting those videos didn’t accomplish anything besides embarrassing Angel.

They also said I could have compromised by having a “Nobody under 18” rule for my birthday dinner. Megan would not be able to attend but then Sofia and Parker wouldn’t feel excluded. I do not see how that would be fair to myself or Megan. AITA For not wanting to make compromises for my birthday dinner?

Edit: Hello, I wanted to clarify some common concerns about the videos. Firstly, both me and Angel’s Facebooks are private, so the only people who are able to view the videos are people who either I or Angel have added as friends.

A stranger will not be able to see them. Angel had already posted the video that she recorded of Sofia and Parker misbehaving, so I merely linked it.

Megan had already posted the video that she recorded, just on a different social media platform. I am uncertain if Megan’s social media is private, but no strangers will be able to view the videos from my and Angel’s Facebook accounts.

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

ResoluteMuse −  NTA. Angel attempted to get social sympathy and you smacked it right down. Good for you!

tmommy1118 −  NTA. Angela went to the internet looking for sympathy and tried to have the internet gang up on you. You just presented the internet with all the facts instead of just Angela’s side of the story. Besides, it is your birthday.

MuffinMama_ −  Definitely NTA she started it, you finished it.

[Reddit User] −  NTA: you finished it, you didn’t start it.
And your sister need to parent her kids, it’s not their fault for them misbehaving

SugarFries −  Nta she is a bad parent and needs to be shamed.
Those kids are not prepped to live their lives as normal people.

[Reddit User] −  NTA for excluding them, I would include my 17 yo niece in an adult evening too – there’s a huge difference between 17 and 10. Soft YTA for posting videos of someone else’s child without consent though.

Twigz8771 −  NTA. She posted to shame you. You turned it right back on her and showed exactly why you didn’t want them there. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

ncgrits01 −  OK, but now I want….no, NEED…..to see the comments on those videos!!. NTA

queen-alia −  INFO: did you post the videos originally, or were they already posted online and you just linked to them?

thesnarkypotatohead −  Set a 16-and-up rule for the next few years. (If their behavior doesn’t improve, the age limit can continue to increase.)

Angel wasn’t worried about embarrassing you or setting you up to get harassed by relatives, so I don’t see why you should be worried about her feelings when you’re simply defending yourself from her false accusations and crap parenting. NTA.

Edit: y’all, this was not a serious suggestion, it was a flippant response to the “18 year old excluding the 17 year old” thing be easy now.

Do you think the Redditor was justified in posting the videos of her niece and nephew’s behavior to prove her point, or was it an overreaction that caused unnecessary embarrassment for Angel?

Would you have handled the situation differently? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!