AITA for putting parental controls on my TV and royally pissing off my FIL?

A Redditor (M, 30s) is sharing his frustration about his in-laws, who are temporarily living with him and his family due to home repairs. His father-in-law (FIL) and mother-in-law (MIL) frequently play loud music and watch YouTube late into the night, disturbing his children’s sleep.

Despite multiple requests to keep the noise down, the FIL argued against it, and his wife sided with him. In response, the Redditor set parental controls on the TV to block access after 8:30 PM, a move that has caused significant tension. Now, his FIL is demanding the password, and his wife is upset with him. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for putting parental controls on my TV and royally pissing off my FIL?’

I (M30’s) live with my wife (F30’s). We have two kids, M8 and F6. My wife’s parents are staying with us temporarily as their home is having some serious repairs after a freak accident. It wasn’t their fault and luckily they had insurance. The repairs should be completed in two months from now.

I don’t really get along with my in-laws, especially my father-in-law, but I agreed to let them stay because I thought the time would fly by and it wouldn’t be that bad, but I’m posting here so I guess I was wrong.

My MIL doesn’t have a job and my FIL works late shifts until around 11pm. When he gets home they will watch YouTube in the living room and play music on it at a loud volume with our speaker system, it’s not “college house party bass tearing apart the walls” loud but it is still loud.

My kids are not light sleepers but this wakes them up, then they go wake me up because they want me to make it stop. My kids need to be rested for school and I need to get up in the morning to drop them off and go to work.

My wife works overnight shifts so she doesn’t witness this. I’ve tried to talk to my MIL and FIL about it and asked that they please keep the noise down after my kids’ bed time which is 8:30pm. I don’t expect complete silence but I really don’t think they need to have the TV on loud late at night.

My FIL argued with me and said that he doesn’t finish work til 11pm, so I’m basically expecting him to not do the things he enjoys after work. I told him he can do it before work or on his days off or it’s tough s**t.

He complained to my wife who’s now taking his side and saying that the kids need to learn how to sleep through “a bit of everyday noise”. I told her it’s not everyday noise and that he and MIL are being excessively noisy and inconsiderate, she’s just not there to see it. My FIL has been sending me links to buy earplugs for the kids.

I’ve gotten really fed up with this. It’s not my in-laws’ house and they’re staying with us as guests and I think they’re being really selfish. I decided to put parental controls on the TV so that my in-laws can’t use it after 8:30pm, until 6am the next day.

Between those times the TV can’t be used without putting in the password and only I know it. This doesn’t affect my wife as she doesn’t get off work until 6am and isn’t normally home until 6:20ish.

My FIL is now incredibly pissed off with me and said that I’m acting like a child and keeps pestering me, demanding the password. My wife is also mad at me for upsetting her dad. I’m just so annoyed at this whole situation and I’m sick of hearing about it so I just want to know if I’m morally in the clear..

Edit: thank you for the awards!

These are the responses from Reddit users:

fireflyflies80 −  NTA. Your in-laws are rude and inconsiderate, and your wife should be managing them and backing you up in this. Had she done so, you would not need to take such drastic measures. Both you and the kids need your sleep. The in-laws are guests in your home. This is wildly inappropriate for them to act this way. If they don’t like the house rules, they can go to a motel.

robobskii −  NTA – They may be in-laws but they are guests within your home. You’ve asked them politely before and they’ve ignored you. Tell them to read a book to keep themselves entertained.

[Reddit User] −  NTA. Who the hell stays as a guest in someone’s home, knowing they have young children, and expects them to be okay with them playing loud music all night? Even without the kids in the equation that’s still unreasonable and wildly inappropriate but it just adds another layer of assholery.

Dracodina −  NTA you are a Saint. The link to ear plugs would have had me sending links to hotel rooms back.

Cactus_deluxe −  NTA. Send your FIL links for headphones.

ipofex −  **NTA**, they can either abide by the rules of your home or get another place to stay. It really is that simple in this case.

AffectionateHand2206 −  NTA. Everyone needs to make an effort to make a situation like this as easy as possible for everyone involved. That means being a considerate person. It seems as though your in-laws never learned basic manners.

Your kids basic needs trump your FIL’s wanting to watch TV at a loud volume in the middle of the night. Constantly disrupted sleep is bad for everyone, but for younger kids it’s even worse.

The kids shouldn’t have to wear ear plugs. Your in-laws could get headphones instead. So, good for you for drawing a line. They seem to not understand it any other way. If they continue behaving the way they have, they can look for another place to stay.

Mundane_Bike_912 −  Be petty. Take the controls off and record how loud it is. Show your wife if she still disagrees, hide the remote.

Push_the_button_Max −  Are they hard of hearing? Can they wear headphones while watching TV?

Fattydog −  One thing… we had a tree fall on our house and were out of the property for six months. Insurance paid our hotel and rent costs. Why isn’t insurance paying their costs? It’s included in most policies?

What do you think? Is it reasonable for the Redditor to impose parental controls to ensure peace in his home, or did he go too far? Should he have found another way to resolve the issue with his in-laws? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!