“I Haven’t Been Able To Sleep Since Then”: Neighbors Claim Dad’s Brainwashing His 5 Y.O. Daughter By Encouraging Her Wish To Be A Housewife
While people never really stop dreaming, the most dreaming that they ever do is as kids. And, more often than not, they dream of what things will be like in their personal futures, things like what they will be and what they will do for a living. It’s only normal.
But what would you do if your kid started dreaming of being a housewife? Would you as a parent and a grown-up, aware of all of the social nuances of the “vocation”, be supportive of the idea, would you have a talk, or would you try to silence it?
More Info: Reddit
The sky’s the limit for what kids want to be when they grow up—and if they want to be housewives, who are we to judge, right?
Image source: rosarito_82 (not the actual photo)
This one Reddit user with a throwaway account (a one-off account, very often created for just one post for privacy reasons) has recently shared a conundrum he was facing.
In particular, OP is a dad of a 5-year-old girl who is a dreamer—one who sounds like she wants to achieve a lot of great things in life because of how many things she has wanted to be in life.
Everything from teacher to truck driver to photographer to “knee doctor”—you name it, she has had dreams about becoming it at one point or another. And this is usually influenced by TV or the people she meets. And the dad tries to support her in any way he can, getting her outfits and tools for each profession and whatnot.
This is exactly what this one kid wanted, and this dad had to listen to an hour-long lecture from the neighbors about it
Image Credits: u/throwawayaita97
Well, this time around, OP’s friend was recently over and the little girl asked her what she does for a living. The answer was housewife. Immediately, the little girl assumed the role of housewife and now “has 3 kids that she helps with homework and teaches them manners, and each one of them has a food allergy.”
Adorable beyond belief.
So, fast forward a few days later, the dad and the daughter were returning from the grocery store when they met the neighbors. A chat ensued, during which the neighbors asked the daughter what she was up to, and they got a very housewifey answer: “back from the grocery store to make dinner for her husband and children.”
Image Credits: u/throwawayaita97
Image source: Wonderlane (not the actual photo)
Got weird looks, but weird he can tolerate, so all was well. Or was it?
A few hours later, there was a knock on the door. Lo and behold, the neighbors came over to OP’s house to give him a piece of their mind. This quickly turned into an hour-long lecture about how wrong it is that the dad’s encouraging this and how harmful it is to the daughter.
“They told me we aren’t in the ’60s anymore and young girls shouldn’t dream about being housewives anymore,” elaborated OP in his post. They apparently also started demanding he stops brainwashing the kid or she’ll start “settling for being a housewife” instead of dreaming big.
The words stuck with him; he couldn’t sleep. You see, he’s a single dad, as the mom wanted nothing to do with her, so raising a kid for him is an extra hard struggle, and most of the time he has no idea if he’s doing it right. And this lecture left him even more conflicted, which led to the post on the Am I The A-Hole community.
Commenters were having none of it, supporting OP and saying that it’s none of the neighbors’ business what the kids wants in life
It goes without saying that the AITA community was all in support of the dad, saying that he’s not the a-hole in this situation. In any way possible.
First of all, folks pointed out that what the dad is doing not necessarily encouraging her wish to be a housewife as much as he’s just being supportive. And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
Others pointed out that there are people who enjoy being housewifes, stay at home moms, and the like, and that is a choice, one that cannot be dictated by any lectures by neighbors.
But, by far, the biggest question folks had was how dare they come over and tell you how to live your life, or how your daughter ought to live hers. Also, super creepy neighbors, if anything.
The community was very supportive of OP, with the post getting a good handful of Reddit awards and over 6,000 upvotes, though judging by the top comment (having received nearly 16,000 upvotes), more people have seen it overall.
You can read the post in context here, and take a look at our vast assortment of Am I The A-Hole articles here. But not without giving us your two cents on the matter in the comment section below!
To me, the whole point of feminism is that women should have choices. Including being a housewife if they want.
Exactly. The entire point of feminism is to erase traditional gender roles as the expectation and let everyone (men, women and everyone in between) be as 'masculine' or 'feminine' as they want without criticism or mockery. I feel like most people misunderstand just what feminism is actually about.
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My daughter at that age was playing house with another girl and 2 boys. You'd expect one of the boys to be the dad, right? Nope. My daughter was the dad, the other girl was the mom. The boys were on all fours barking, because they were the dogs.
NTA. The girl is 5. He encourages her in all the other things she wants to be and this is just one of them. Next week she'll want to be a judge or a firefighter.
Exactly my thought when I read this.....I used to change what i wanted to be every couple of days....
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To me, the whole point of feminism is that women should have choices. Including being a housewife if they want.
Exactly. The entire point of feminism is to erase traditional gender roles as the expectation and let everyone (men, women and everyone in between) be as 'masculine' or 'feminine' as they want without criticism or mockery. I feel like most people misunderstand just what feminism is actually about.
Load More Replies... My daughter at that age was playing house with another girl and 2 boys. You'd expect one of the boys to be the dad, right? Nope. My daughter was the dad, the other girl was the mom. The boys were on all fours barking, because they were the dogs.
NTA. The girl is 5. He encourages her in all the other things she wants to be and this is just one of them. Next week she'll want to be a judge or a firefighter.
Exactly my thought when I read this.....I used to change what i wanted to be every couple of days....
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