Neglectful 22-year-old mom brings 5-year-old and infant to haunted house despite friends warning, the kids have meltdowns: 'Those poor kids'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Oct 7, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

There is such a thing as too scary. For me, that bar is pretty low, and I'm a fully grown adult. Some parts of Ghostbusters are too scary for me. But when I was a kid, it was even more so. Everything seems so big and scary and real when you're a kid, and you can't quite separate reality from entertainment. Like in a haunted house. Sure, we might know that those are actors, and that's not real blood, but children can't fully wrap their heads around that. Even I can't sometimes. That's why it's best to leave those super scary Halloween experiences for later in life. It could traumatize them. 

But one mom didn't quite plan ahead well enough and ended up scaring her kids and inconveniencing her friends in the process. Read on for the story and see what you would have done. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10413494272
    via Haley Phelps
  • 02
    AITA for telling my friend I won't be inviting her out anymore?
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 03
    So my bf tells me im not the but I feel like I may be. So I F23 have a friend I'll call Mary who's 22. She and I work together and became friends. Well this past Saturday, I invited her out with my friend group to go to a local amusement park that goes all out for Halloween
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 04
    Mary asks if she can bring her kids a 5 year old boy and an 18 month old girl. Everyone involved tells her it's really not a good idea as this park and it's haunted attractions are not geared towards children and we're planning on being there until it closes which is midnight.
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 05
    She seems to accept this but asks repeatedly throughout the week leading up to Saturday and she is again told no. Well Saturday arrived and as you can guess, she brought her kids. Other people in our group asks her why and she just shrugged saying she thought the kids would have fun.
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 06
    They didn't, her son got scared with in about 10 minutes of us getting into the park and began to cry begging to go home to which Mary tells him to calm down and he'll have fun eventually. We get in line for the first haunted house and her son again starts to cry saying he doesn't want to go into the house. Mary then asks myself if I'll stay and watch her son and daughter so she can go into the haunted house.
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 07
    I tell her no and that this is why we told her not to bring her kids. She gets upset and drags her very scared child through the haunted house. He had a melt down and had to be carried out. This repeats through every single haunted house we attempted to go through.
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 08
    Around 11:30, my boyfriend pulls me aside and tells me that he can't take anymore of the screaming/crying and we try to break off to find a place to calm down, Mary sees this and leaves her son and daughter with us while she runs off to go on a ride. Her son gets scared by an actor chasing people with a chainsaw and has an epic melt down. I'm doing the best I can to console him but I am rapidly running out of patients. Finally his mom comes back. and I all but shove her son back into her arms
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 09
    I tell Mary that my bf and I were leaving along with the rest of our group. She gets huffy but agreed. We leave the park and go to waffle House for dinner. At this point it's midnight and both kids are extremely tired and upset. They cry all through dinner and Mary did nothing to calm them down. Finally at the end of my rope, once we get out of the restaurant I lose my temper. I tell
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 10
    Mary that this is why she was told not to bring her kids to this event and that I will not be inviting her back out again if she can't follow the rules of the group. Mary got upset and has since blocked me and the other people who agreeded with me. No one in the group agreed with Mary but they all did say that I didn't need to say anything about it to her and I didn't need to tell her I wasn't inviting her out again.
    via u/thatgothvamp
  • 11
    nerdpower13 • 13h ago. 100% a terrible mother. She potentially traumatized that poor kid dragging him through all of that when he was clearly terrified, not to even mention keeping young children up past midnight.
    via u/nerdpower13
  • 12
    SL8Rgirl • 12h ago. Jokes on her though. He's going to be keeping her up with nightmares for the foreseeable future. /s It's not a joke. She's a terrible mother and I feel so bad for those kids.
    via u/SL8Rgirl
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    Suspicious-Loss5460 16h ago • • N.T.A. "they all did say that I didn't need to say anything about it to her and I didn't need to tell her I wasn't inviting her out again." IF. You and the others in the group don't say anything. What's to stop her from repeating this behavior? She might want to also put more consideration towards her children and other people she hangs out with. As opposed to putting her own wants first.
    via u/Suspicious-Loss5460
  • 14
    graywisteria • 14h ago. NTA. Not only is Mary an inconsiderate friend, she's a cruel parent. Those poor kids. :(
    via u/graywisteria
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    Worth-Season3645 15h ago • NTA... Honestly, I would have ditched Mary long before you did. I would have told her that you and your boyfriend are not going to be a scared, screaming child all night and Mary deserves any nightmares those kids may have over the next few weeks because of her actions. And I most
    via u/Worth-Season3645
  • 16
    definitely would not have sat either her at The Waffle House. Those poor children. You said you were not going to invite her. You did not say no one else could. And I bet those sticking up for her will soon get tired of Mary bringing her children.
    via u/Worth-Season3645
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    SubjectBuilder3793 13h ago. NTA YES YOU DID HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING! The rest of the group is too chicken to confront her after she ruined the experience for eveyone. And I do mean eveyone. Kids: hated it. You: hated it. Group friends not happy at all. Your husband: Had to put his foot down to leave.
    via u/SubjectBuilder3793
  • 18
    SHe dragged everyone through a cringy, cruel, long night of her kids being scared and sad. She shouldn't ever be invited again. And she should know exactly why. (Since she is ultra-dense and selfish to boot).
    via u/SubjectBuilder3793
  • 19
    Malibu Cola • 16h ago . Malibu_Cola NTA. She made her bed, and has to lie in it. The fact that she had the audacity to leave her kids with you while she has fun is wild. She sounds very entitled and never gets told "no".
    via u/Malibu_Cola
  • 20
    Purlz1st 14h ago • . NTA but I've never heard of an amusement park that would allow little kids into that kind of attraction. Usually kids under 13 or so aren't allowed into the park that late.
    via u/Purlz1st
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    • lalathegodzilla 16h ago • NTA! Not everyone like kids and there are just places that are not children friendly! Your friend group made the expectations and rules early on and your "friend" pushed the boundaries. She is a horrible mother and wanted you guys as free baby sitters. Glad she blocked you guys, trash took itself out!
    via u/lalathegodzilla

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childcare Babies scary aita infant kids halloween haunted house moms parenting dad cute kids reddit thread parent Reddit raising kids Parenting Fail parents children Parenting FAILS
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