Man Welcomes In-Laws To His House, Puts Parental Controls On His TV To Allow His Kids To Sleep As They Refuse To Keep The Volume Down
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact point in our very fragile existence when we stop being a kid and become a full-fledged adult. But it’s not that hard to do that for the opposite progression—when you get so old, you start acting like a child.
And while you might think that dealing with an adult child is much harder than it is with an actual child, believe it or not, it’s not that different. Heck, you can use the same tactics and get results.
Take it from this dad who, as soon as his father-in-law started acting like a child, turned on his dad mode and dealt with it as if he was a child—with parental controls.
More Info: Reddit
You’d think kids grow up to be adults and stay that way, but some adults turn back into kids as soon as they become grandparents
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual image)
The story goes that OP—a husband and a father to two kids—had in-laws staying with him temporarily while their house undergoes some serious overhaul work. Now, he doesn’t get along too well with his in-laws, more so the case with his father-in-law, but he figured two months would fly by without him having to lose his cool. Alas, he was wrong.
Considering that his mother-in-law is jobless, and the father-in-law often finishes work at around 11PM, the two often end up watching YouTube into the late hours of the night. Sounds tame, right? No. They watch it (as well as listen to music) using the entire speaker system. And while it’s not an insane setup, it packs enough of a punch to be bothersome to those who value sleep, i.e. the kids and OP.
But it happens, and this one dad decided he’s gonna use parenting tactics, i.e. TV parental controls, to deal with his father-in-law’s tantrums
Image credits: u/ExplanationFun2337
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual image)
So, what ends up happening is the kids get woken up by the sound of boomer music blasting, which in turn prompts them to wake dad up so he’ll go and deal with the situation. After all, the kids need their rest, and the dad needs his because they have commitments in the mornings. The wife doesn’t seem to understand this as she’s at work, hauling graveyard shifts.
You’d think talking would help, but neither in-law was having any of it. And OP wasn’t asking for complete silence—the volume had to be low enough to ensure peace at home. But the father-in-law switched it up immediately, blaming OP for prohibiting him from enjoying himself after work, but OP drew a clear line there, so tough luck.
The issue here is everyone’s working on different schedules, and so everyone’s daily life begins at different times—FIL’s does near midnight
Image credits: u/ExplanationFun2337
And, as if father-in-law’s actions weren’t childish enough with the backtalk and taunts by sending links to buy earplugs, he managed to also tattle on him to the wife. And she sided with her dad! So, now you have both the in-laws and the wife on one end and the dad and kids on the other.
So, OP figured he wasn’t going to tolerate the in-laws’ tomfoolery and shenanigans and so he did the thing all kids couldn’t counter, and that is he put a parental control password on the television. So, now the ma and pa were restricted to enjoying the television between 6AM and 8:30PM. This doesn’t affect the Mrs as she’s working during these hours.
And midnight is not a good time to be blasting soaps and music, which not only the dad, but also his kids had trouble living with
Image credits: u/ExplanationFun2337
Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual image)
As you might have expected, the father-in-law is anything but amused. Ironically, in response to this, FIL told OP that he’s acting like a child, all the while pestering him with demands to tell him the password. The wife’s also upset.
But the solution lied in simply setting the TV to only be available during certain times throughout the day, and other times—password protected
Image credits: u/ExplanationFun2337
All of this made OP turn to the r/AITA community for some perspective on the matter. And he got loads of it. At the very least, 24,500 upvotes and a handful of Reddit awards worth of perspective.
After a family feud, the author of the post turned to the internet for some perspective
Across the board, folks were pointing out how the in-laws, being guests in someone else’s home, had the audacity to go along with their usual daily (nightly?) routines without considering others, and even being asked to knock it off, but fighting it.
Others suggested every time father-in-law sends links to earplugs, OP would send them links to headphones and hotel rooms. If anything, OP did right by his kids as a primary caretaker. And there was also one commenter who asked the real question: because their house was destroyed, insurance policies cover temporary housing—why didn’t they take the opportunity?
You can check out the post and full discussion on Reddit here. But don’t go just yet—not only because I said so, but also because you still haven’t shared your thoughts and stories in the comment section below!
I truly believe some people don’t register their level of nonsense until it’s done to them, so next step… when the kids go to school and the OP goes to work in the morning… the TV goes and sound system go on at that volume… and it’s left on with the password in place. Yes… things can be unplugged, but after a few days of waking up to do that… and your point has been made. Empathy is a great motivator! And it sounds like all the other adults in the house are lacking empathy.
Too bad OP has to treat people who should know better as if they were naughty children. If the wife works the graveyard shift, she has to sleep during the day. That would be a good time to let the in-laws crank up the volume, so it can dawn on her just how bad the late night problem is. I wonder if they were this loud when their kids were growing up., or just don’t want to own up to hearing loss. Also yes, insurance should pay for alternative accommodations, so either the IL were not insured, or they’re pocketing the housing allowance money. If it was my parents or IL, and they acted like this—-as if it’s their house, and they get to call all the shots like when their kids were little—-there would be an ultimatum: learn how to be polite guests in someone else’s home, or find a long term stay hotel room with a kitchenette.
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Their homeowners insurance absolutely would have given them a stipend for a hotel while their home is being repaired. They chose to pocket the money and instead inconvenience their family. OP should tell them that it is better for everyone if they use that money to pay for a hotel.
It's possible they don't know they're entitled to a hotel. A tree fell on our house many years ago, leaving a massive hole in the roof in the middle of winter. The insurance agent never told us we had that in our policy even though he knew we were sleeping in a house that we couldn't get above 55 degrees farenheit. We only found out about it a week later when going through the policy to see what was covered for replacement. Even then we had to provide receipts for the hotel; we weren't just given an arbitrary amount of money.
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iLs get a hotel and spend the money they were given for it. They need to stop encroaching on other people. Could give two shits what the FIL used to do after work s**t changes. Wife needs to cut the cord and grow the f**k up. Just because it's her parents doesn't mean they can run over anyone. Lesson should be learned that no one stays at the house idaf who it they are find something else
You have expressed this exactly how I felt when reading this story!
Load More Replies... I truly believe some people don’t register their level of nonsense until it’s done to them, so next step… when the kids go to school and the OP goes to work in the morning… the TV goes and sound system go on at that volume… and it’s left on with the password in place. Yes… things can be unplugged, but after a few days of waking up to do that… and your point has been made. Empathy is a great motivator! And it sounds like all the other adults in the house are lacking empathy.
Too bad OP has to treat people who should know better as if they were naughty children. If the wife works the graveyard shift, she has to sleep during the day. That would be a good time to let the in-laws crank up the volume, so it can dawn on her just how bad the late night problem is. I wonder if they were this loud when their kids were growing up., or just don’t want to own up to hearing loss. Also yes, insurance should pay for alternative accommodations, so either the IL were not insured, or they’re pocketing the housing allowance money. If it was my parents or IL, and they acted like this—-as if it’s their house, and they get to call all the shots like when their kids were little—-there would be an ultimatum: learn how to be polite guests in someone else’s home, or find a long term stay hotel room with a kitchenette.
Load More Replies... Their homeowners insurance absolutely would have given them a stipend for a hotel while their home is being repaired. They chose to pocket the money and instead inconvenience their family. OP should tell them that it is better for everyone if they use that money to pay for a hotel.
It's possible they don't know they're entitled to a hotel. A tree fell on our house many years ago, leaving a massive hole in the roof in the middle of winter. The insurance agent never told us we had that in our policy even though he knew we were sleeping in a house that we couldn't get above 55 degrees farenheit. We only found out about it a week later when going through the policy to see what was covered for replacement. Even then we had to provide receipts for the hotel; we weren't just given an arbitrary amount of money.
Load More Replies... iLs get a hotel and spend the money they were given for it. They need to stop encroaching on other people. Could give two shits what the FIL used to do after work s**t changes. Wife needs to cut the cord and grow the f**k up. Just because it's her parents doesn't mean they can run over anyone. Lesson should be learned that no one stays at the house idaf who it they are find something else
You have expressed this exactly how I felt when reading this story!
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