'It’s embarrassing for a teen boy to live in a Barbie house': 13-year-old asks his dad to repaint their pink house a 'normal color', gets backed up by grandma

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
May 3, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

When you're a young teenager, everything is embarrassing. Never have you been so carefully monitored by everyone around you as you are from ages 12 to 14,  or at least that's what it feels like. Kids are used to parents and teachers being in their business and telling them what to do, but when their peers laser-focus on any noticeable difference between them and the kids around them, it feels like the end of the world. 

As a middle schooler, you try as hard as possible not to stand out negatively. That's super difficult because nobody goes through the throes of puberty unscathed, but you can at least try to control yourself from being embarrassing as best you can. You can't so easily force your parents not to embarrass you, because they have power over you and are far less affected by embarrassment. One dad recently went viral on Reddit after his teen son asked for their house to be painted "a normal color," and the adults in the comments agreed that this phase soon shall pass. 

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  • 01
    r/AmltheAsshole u/Wild-Argument-308. 1d AITA for not picking a new color for my house even though my son finds the one we have embarrassing?
    via u/Wild-Argument-308
  • 02
    I bought my house 15 years ago. It was a fixer upper and needed a lot of work. The only thing I kept the house is it's painted bright pink. The guy I bought it from said it was his deceased father's house. He off his neighbors. I had painted it this way to decided I liked the color and kept it the way it was. When I married my wife a year later, she agreed. We now have 3 kids: a 13 year old boy, a 10 year old girl and a 8 year old girl.
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  • 03
    We are doing some minor renovations to the house and have decided to touch up the paint as it's been awhile. My son asked that we paint it a "normal color" because it's "embarrassing" to live in a pink house. We declined and said we like the color. Ultimately, it's our house and we'll be living in it longer than him. When we die, he's free to paint it what he wants.
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  • 04
    My MIL feels we're being unfair and that we should take into account how it's embarrassing for a teen boy to live in a "Barbie house". We asked my son if he's being teased and he said no. But he hates it. Our daughters like it. Are we wrong for not painting the house a "normal" color?
    via u/Wild-Argument-308
  • 05
    cjbay87 • 1d Partassipant [1] NTA, I live in a pink house, the color was chosen by my husband's grandfather when the house was built, it's the only pink house in our area and anytime someone asks where we live we say the pink house on "our street" and they ALL know the house, it's on a main road so it sticks out in the sea of traditional colors, the story behind the house is. My husband's grandfather was known to be a very frugal man, when it came to picking a house color he chose what was on sa
    via u/cjbay87
  • 06
    marvel_nut ⚫ 21h Partassipant [1] Pink houses are the best. When I was very little my mom and I always passed one on our Sunday walks, and I used to give it a lick because I was CONVINCED it was made of candy. I think I gave up on that at around age 5, when I discovered the power of empirical evidence. OP is NTA. Son got outvoted and will get over it. 13 is the age of perpetual embarrassment; may this experience teach him about the virtues of non-conformity. ... 257
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  • 07
    thatswherethedevilis 18h My 11 year old is embarrassed about her 8 year old sister breathing. I don't think we're going to have to hold a house vote on that one. 194
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  • 08
    Meow_Waiting • 1d Partassipant [2] NTA Your child can it up (no offense to your child), teenagers are moody (I would know, I am one) and he'll get over it. Also your MIL should respect your decisions in parenting and about your house. I think your son will mature to understand that pink is not an embarrassing color, and honestly your MIL should too. Reply 4.7k
    via u/Meow_Waiting
  • 09
    HelpStatistician • 23h good time to teach son that pink is not just a girl colour and not to get hung up on what other people think and say 2.4k
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  • 10
    Stellariamedia • 23h Exactly! As a woman, I find boys/men who freak out about pink to be absolutely pathetic, and as a straight woman I wouldn't be attracted to a man who refused pink things for the basis of it being "girly". It's fine if you don't think a pink shirt would look good on you, but it's another to proclaim no man should wear one. Good opportunity to try and dive into the history of colors and their associated meanings. As I recall, pink wasn't always considered feminine. 1.3k
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  • 11
    FairyFartDaydreams • 22h Originally pinks and reds were considered a sign of the sun (representative of manliness) and too energetic for girls. It only became a girls color when women co-opted reds and pinks in thier campaign for voting rights. It is because of that reds and pinks became girly colors in the early 1900's. Blues were originally calming colors and as such only suitable for girls ... 603
    via u/FairyFartDaydreams
  • 12
    MyCouchPulzOut_IDont ⚫ 1d Colo-rectal Surgeon [31] Your son is 13. The house could be painted by Samuel L. Jackson and his peers would find a way to embarrass him for it. Hopefully he's not getting bullied too hard at school. It's not easy to be the kid in the - house. I remember a kid who lived in a huge house in a nice neighborhood with everything a kid could want (top of the line gaming setup, trampoline, great dane puppy, and a big yard with a fire pit) and he got bullied why? - because it w
    via u/MyCouchPulzOut_IDont
  • 13
    Oldest Crone • 23h Partassipant [1] Adding on to this, tell him the story that man who painted the house was his own man and didn't cave to the neighbors and peer pressure. He went his own way. 531
    via u/OldestCrone
  • 14
    Pagan CHICK720 • 23h Certified Proctologist [29] The son even admitted that he isn't getting bullied about the house. This is the standard "everything is embarrassing" 13 year-old mindset of dealing with home life. So, there is no reason to invest in the cost of repainting the house an entirely different color. The kid isn't being harmed or bullied, he just doesn't like it. ← 318
    via u/PaganCHICK720
  • 15
    CalendarDad • 1d Partassipant [1] Why the is your MOTHER-IN-LAW weighing in on this? What business is it of hers? Answer: None. If she's not going to pony up the mortgage, buy the paint, and grab a brush...she's welcome to keep her big yap shut. ΝΤΑ Reply 1.2k
    via u/CalendarDad
  • 16
    tinyahjumma ⚫ 1d Commander in Cheeks [299] NAH. Please just remember that it is perfectly. normal at his developmental stage to be concerned about anything that stands out or deviates from the norm. If it weren't the house color, it would be how you laugh in public or what shoes he's wearing or whatever. MIL should not interfere, and your son will get over it. By the time he is 15, he'll be smug about how eccentric the color is. Reply 561
    via u/tinyahjumma
  • 17
    mocha_lattes _ • 23h Partassipant [2] This comment should be higher. His behavior is totally normal for his age. Doesn't mean he's the AH and neither are the parents for not wanting to paint the house. Painting a house is expensive. When we bought our house the previous owners painted it a horrible yellow color the year before they sold it to us. I was so upset when I saw it because Google pictures showed it was a lovely pale blueish grey. I want to paint it so bad but I'm not spending that much
    via u/mocha_lattes_
  • 18
    Active-Anteater1884 • 23h Aficionado [12] Look, you always want your kids to feel happy and comfortable in your home. I'm a big believer in giving kids autonomy in how they decorate/keep their own rooms (assuming they're not, like, leaving food around to rot :) ). But in terms of overall appearance, I think that's the parents prerogative. You like the color, your wife likes it, your daughters like it. Your son doesn't like it, but no one is hassling him over it. NTA. And BTW, there has NEVER bee
    via u/Active-Anteater1884
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    via Emily Campbell

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