Strict Father Insists Mother Must Discipline 7-Year-Old Daughter For Cheating on Her 'Boyfriend'

Ada Elder

Jun 19, 2023 8:00 PM EDT

My sister has been married twice. But neither of her ex-husbands is her baby daddy. That's because her whirlwind marriages occurred in kindergarten, mere months apart. School-aged marriages and relationships are pretty common despite having absolutely zero legal or real romantic validity. So you can imagine the internet's surprise when Redditor u/EfficientAd4006 came to the r/AmITheAsshole subreddit with a related query.

The viral post comes from a mother seeking advice on a situation involving her 7-year-old daughter, Layla, and Layla's "boyfriend," Lucas. Layla and Lucas have a very innocent, age-appropriate friendship that they call a "relationship," which basically consists of holding hands. Unfortunately for Lucas, Layla was seen holding hands with another boy.

The drama escalated when Lucas' parents called to cancel a playdate because Lucas was upset with Layla for her "infidelity". After Lucas' parents call, Layla's father wanted to punish Layla for being unfaithful and to use the incident as a teaching moment about fidelity. To make matters worse, Layla's father believes it's her mother's responsibility to do something about it. When OP put her foot down because of Layla's age, her husband accused her of "raising a cheater." The whole thing feels pretty ridiculous when you consider that Layla is too young to even comprehend the concept of cheating.

It seems the Internet is firmly on OP's side. While some users took to the forum to express their solidarity, others went further and scrutinized her husband - some even suggesting that he's projecting. While that's a bit too much speculation for our liking, we do believe that 7-year-olds should be treated as, well, 7-year-olds. How can you vilify a kid for stepping outside of a relationship that has such innocent roots?