'AITA for not punishing my 4yo daughter after she said my SIL smells like fish?'
"AITA for not punishing my 4-year-old daughter after she said my sister in law smells like fish?"
I'm 25 F my daughter is 4 F. My daughter L was sitting with me her dad and her baby brother on the couch this was on thanksgiving my sister in law came over with her kids and husband.
She walked through the door and asked my daughter for a hug. L walked over to her and stopped dead in her tracks before saying "you smell." I corrected my daughter and told her that wasn't nice and she should apologize.
My daughter proceeded to say "but mommy, she smells like fish" my sister-in-law got angry and started yelling at MY daughter about how she was being disrespectful.
My daughter started crying and I started yelling at my sister in law that she had no right to yell at my kids and that she should've talked to me about the issue instead of yelling at her she proceeded to say "she should be punished for what she said."
I told her I would not punish my child for saying what she did instead I would talk to her about her actions. She then left taking her kids and called me a crazy b for not wanting to punish my child.
My side of the family are saying that I'm not in the wrong, but my sister in law's side is saying that I should've punished her for her actions. AITA?
Here's what top commenters had to say about this one...
ccl-now said:
If someone smells of fish, there isn't a 4 year old in the world that won't point it out. At least with what went down, Smelly Fish Lady wasn't in your house long enough to stink the place up.
Hopfit46 said:
You don't punish a 4 year old. You have a talk about manners and get them to say sorry.
Sharp-Sense-8505 said:
NTA. Sounds like she got embarrassed because she smells like fish.
No_Investigator8393 said:
I’m not a parent so I’m no expert but oh my god NTA. A 4 year old is going to say stuff like that because they just don’t have a good filter or understand how saying something like that might be hurtful.
DrTeethPhD said:
NTA. She's 4! She's saying things she observes. Filters are not a thing with kids her age. Anyone saying she should have been punished is an idiot.
PandaMime_421 said:
Was she being honest? I can't imagine punishing a child for being honest. Sure, you can teach her to have more tact, although at 4 years old that might be expecting too much. Wanting her punished, though? That's absurd. NTA.