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Woman Says Yes To Helping Friend With Kids, Says Goodbye After Basement Smell And Damage Take Over
Absolutely wild housemate horror stories are usually best left in fiction, but sometimes, real life takes the cake. If you’ve ever invited someone into your home out of kindness and ended up wondering if you accidentally enrolled in an unpaid babysitting job at a sticky, chaotic daycare, this tale might hit a little too close to home.
Today’s Original Poster (OP) thought she was helping an old friend until her entire house turned into a toddler tornado zone. What began as a compassionate arrangement spiraled into damaged property and missing ice cream sandwiches to biohazard-level messes; the breaking point came when she discovered a literal pee puddle explosion in her laundry area.
More info: Reddit
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Sometimes, doing the right thing feels like second nature, but every now and then, that good deed doesn’t just go unappreciated; it backfires in ways you never saw coming
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author and her husband let their friend move into their basement so he would be able to see his three kids, which was a problem in his previous living situation
Image credit: Kyzer577
Image credits: Jonathan Borba / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
However, the kids begin causing problems like breaking into shared spaces, stealing food, and damaging property while unsupervised
Image credit: Kyzer577
Image credits: Bruno Azevedo / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
The author set up baby gates and locks to control the situation, but the children continued with their destructive behavior, and the basement became even filthier
Image credit: Kyzer577
Image credits: Raspopova Marina / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
The final straw came when the author discovered pee all over the laundry area while home alone
Image credit: Kyzer577
Image credits: sarah b / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
She was deeply upset and called her husband, who confronted the friend and told him that the two older kids couldn’t come over anymore
Image credit: Kyzer577
The friend apologized and insisted that the kids would keep coming to the house, and this was where the wife snapped and gave the friend a 60-day notice to move out
The OP and her husband opened their home to a struggling friend whose living situation didn’t allow his three young boys to stay over. Out of kindness and empathy, they let the friend live in their basement with full access to shared common areas. Everyone was expected to clean up after themselves, but that part didn’t exactly go as planned.
The situation was odd from the start. Apparently, the friend only biologically fathered one of the boys but insisted on caring for all three. The OP and her husband agreed to let the kids stay over twice a week, hoping it would be manageable. But what began as a fair compromise quickly turned into an exhausting ordeal.
At first, it was just messes and smells coming from the basement. Then, the kids started sneaking into the kitchen early in the morning and then trashing food. One morning, the house was covered in eggs and shells, and another day, the OP’s beloved ice cream sandwiches were smeared everywhere.
To cope, the OP and her husband baby-proofed their house, installed locks, and baby gates, and even had to remove door locks due to the boys peeing all over bathroom surfaces. Despite the mounting restrictions, the destruction kept escalating. However, after one particular incident, she decided she’d had enough.
While cleaning one day, the OP grabbed the laundry detergent only to find it drenched in pee. The entire laundry area was soaked, and after a tearful call to her husband, they agreed that the kids could no longer come over. However, the friend insisted he’d bring them anyway. At this point, the OP told the friend that he was given 60 days to leave the house.
Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Living in shared spaces requires clear boundaries and mutual respect to avoid unnecessary conflict. As Positively Positive points out, setting guidelines about who is responsible for what and which areas are private is key to creating unity and trust within a household.
However, when boundaries are ignored, relationships can quickly become toxic. According to Calm, toxic friendships or friendships where one is more dependent on the other can leave one party feeling emotionally drained, unsupported, and stressed, especially when there’s an imbalance of effort or constant disrespect.
These dynamics can have a ripple effect, particularly on children. CPD Online College notes that chaotic, unstable home environments and poor supervision are red flags of child neglect, often reflected in behavioral issues and poor hygiene.
They also explain that when emotional health, physical space, and personal boundaries all break down, it’s a sign the situation may be doing more harm than good for everyone involved, and it is always the best time to set firm boundaries.
Netizens expressed concern over the children’s behavior and hygiene, calling it highly abnormal and troubling. They suggested there may be deeper issues at play but also criticized the friend’s parenting and questioned why he was even caring for children who weren’t his.
Netizens also believe that the OP was way too generous by giving the friend 60 days to leave the house. Do you think it was too generous for someone who disrespected the house that badly? We would love to know your thoughts!
Netizens insisted that the author did nothing wrong and that she was also very generous for giving the friend 60 days to move out
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What do you think ?
Sparkle 6 months ago
This may sound harsh but as soon as I had to start locking things in my own darn house because his kids were so out of control I would have told him he has two options. The kids are allowed to come visit but not stay the night and must be supervised or he can find somewhere else to live.
PeakyBlinder 6 months ago
i cant understand why they put up with this for so long - its good bye Adam + kids after the first incident
Jack Sonol 6 months ago
OP said in a comment that 60 days was required by law where they live.
Load More Replies...
Melissa Harris 6 months ago (edited)
She really should have called CPS again and had this added to the file. They might open a new investigation since he's being evicted again. Those kids have been abused. Maybe not currently by the OPs tennet or their mom but definitely at some point. Mentally well Children don't behave like this. He also seems way out of his league and not able to deal with them. He doesn't manage them well or clean up properly.
Ginger ninja 4 months ago
They’re not even his (not bio or in any way legally) and he cant parent them so he should have nothing to do with them. 7 & 4 and they’re acting like that…
Janine Randall 5 months ago
I wouldn't even enter the basement until a professional cleaning crew had done a flying sweep through the house. They probably have strong stomachs
Joanne Mendonza-Earle 6 months ago
This is why you never, ever, EVER rent to friends/family. Bad enough w/ a stranger but the fastest way to destroy a friendship is to let them onto your property (or loan them money). I have a cottage on my property that my MIL lived in for a couple of years and only b/c I made the exception for her. After she had to go to the nursing home, a few friends hinted about living there. We said no and that Ma was the one exception. We could tell that it's rubbed people the wrong way but bottom line, it's MY property (my childhood home in fact) and I would have to set down some very strict 'not open for discussion' rules about it that no one would like. I don't want random people coming over to visit the tenant, loud music, etc.
Sparkle 6 months ago
This may sound harsh but as soon as I had to start locking things in my own darn house because his kids were so out of control I would have told him he has two options. The kids are allowed to come visit but not stay the night and must be supervised or he can find somewhere else to live.
PeakyBlinder 6 months ago
i cant understand why they put up with this for so long - its good bye Adam + kids after the first incident
Jack Sonol 6 months ago
OP said in a comment that 60 days was required by law where they live.
Load More Replies... Melissa Harris 6 months ago (edited)
She really should have called CPS again and had this added to the file. They might open a new investigation since he's being evicted again. Those kids have been abused. Maybe not currently by the OPs tennet or their mom but definitely at some point. Mentally well Children don't behave like this. He also seems way out of his league and not able to deal with them. He doesn't manage them well or clean up properly.
Ginger ninja 4 months ago
They’re not even his (not bio or in any way legally) and he cant parent them so he should have nothing to do with them. 7 & 4 and they’re acting like that…
Janine Randall 5 months ago
I wouldn't even enter the basement until a professional cleaning crew had done a flying sweep through the house. They probably have strong stomachs
Joanne Mendonza-Earle 6 months ago
This is why you never, ever, EVER rent to friends/family. Bad enough w/ a stranger but the fastest way to destroy a friendship is to let them onto your property (or loan them money). I have a cottage on my property that my MIL lived in for a couple of years and only b/c I made the exception for her. After she had to go to the nursing home, a few friends hinted about living there. We said no and that Ma was the one exception. We could tell that it's rubbed people the wrong way but bottom line, it's MY property (my childhood home in fact) and I would have to set down some very strict 'not open for discussion' rules about it that no one would like. I don't want random people coming over to visit the tenant, loud music, etc.
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