Mom gets mad at uncle for enforcing the rules of his house with her 11-year-old son while the boy is staying with him and not letting him keep his PS5 in his room, and making him share with his cousins: 'He just didn't want to share the system'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jun 4, 2025 7:00 AM EDT

"My house, my rules" is something you probably heard your parents utter at some point during your childhood, at a moment of deep injustice when you felt your rights weren't being recognized. But, as the adults in the situation, that was their prerogative, and that pet, or gaming console you wanted, or party you wanted to go to would have to wait. 

It's a little different when you're watching someone else's kid; you do need to make sure you're not imposing some rule on them that is egregious to their needs, upbringing, or sensibilities of their parents. Certainly, bringing your PS5 over to your uncle's house and trying to put it in your room when your cousins aren't allowed to have their gaming consoles in their rooms isn't a part of this equation. At any rate, it would have made more sense to just leave the PS5 at home, especially if the point wasn't to share it with the cousins. 

Beyond sensibilities and egregious rules, "My house, my rules" still applies. I'm sure we also remember going over to our friends houses and being surprised when their families did certain things completely differently and had a complete different set of rules than our homes did and we had to temporarily obey them every time we were there until we were in the relative sanity of our own family homes. 

Even then, you'd think that if, as a parent, you didn't agree with another parent's rules, you probably just wouldn't leave your kid there in the first place.

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  • 01

    "AITA for restricting my nephew (11M) from playing his ps5 for the summer while he's at my house?"

    I (35M) am a single father of two boys (12M and 10M). Ill call them Joe (12M) and George (10M) My sister (37F) is married and she and her husband (38M) have a single child, 11M, whom I'll call Alex. My sister and I always thought it was cool how we had kids around the same time and wanted to make sure the boys all grew up close to each other.
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  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10513392384
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    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    For the last five or six years, my sister, who I'll call Sis, has dropped her son off at my house and gone on vacation with her husband for two weeks for a couples vacation, after which she comes back and they go on a family vacation. Sometimes Joe, George, and I go with them, and sometimes we dont. This year, Sis and her husband (Tom) bought Alex a brand new PS5 for his birthday before the summer started. He has been wanting one for a while and they thought he was old enough for it to be an app
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  • 04
    He was extremely excited about it when he got here and made a comment about not being able to wait to get it set up in his room (he gets a guest room when he visits). I reminded him of the rules at my house, which is that the kids dont get devices in their rooms. Sis and Tom kind of laughed it off and said "we'll let you guys figure that out later", and they left not much later on their vacation.
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  • 05
    The next day, Alex kind of moped around the house while my boys played outside, and I asked him if he wanted to hook his PS5 up, and they could all play that afternoon. He said he didnt want to, and when I asked him why not, he said he just didnt want to share the system, and just wanted to put it in his room so he could play by himself. I told him (I was being nice about it, not snappy) that I was sorry he felt that way but things didnt work like that, and he was free to leave the system in his
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  • 06
    To explain - we only have two TVs - mine in my room and the main one in the Living room. I limit the boys' screen time, and if they want to watch a movie or play a game, they have to agree on it, and share whatever console is being used (take turns). I let them have their phones during the day, but there's a lot. of content filtering and certain apps arent allowed at all.
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  • 07
    Later that day, I got a text from my sister who was upset that "she had barely stepped off the plane and her son is already grounded". I explained to her what was going on, and she said I was being an AH for forcing him to wither share his personal belongings or go without (something she hated about our upbringing). I told her I didnt want to start any drama between the boys. over the summer, and she hung up on me. Later she texted me and said that if I was going to be such an a towards her son,
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  • 08
    EDIT - I need to clarify that my nephew is NOT "grounded". That is how my sister interpreted what he told her about not being able to play his PS5. He still has all the same privileges he arrived with, which is all the privileges. my boys have. EDIT2 - I DO NOT think my nephew is the AH. He's only 11. Im asking if Im TAH between myself and my sister. Also, for those asking, I have no idea how he thought hooking the PS5 up in his room would work. I do know that he has his own TV at home, so maybe
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  • 09
    UPDATE - im about to make dinner and tonight im going to have some conversations with both my nephew and my sister about the situation. Thank you to everyone who chimed in. I'll post an update in the comments tomorrow once I get the bulk of my work done and I've been able to (hopefully) get some things worked out with everyone.
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  • 10
    Last Update - I also left this update on the top comment. This has all happened within the last hour. We had Tacos for dinner (yummy), and Alex was in a better mood. I sent a long text to a group chat between me, my sister, and my BIL, and this is what it said, word for word -
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  • 11
    "Hey [Sis], Im sorry that things got so heated earlier, I didnt realize that [Alex] being able to play the PS5 was such a big deal to everyone. I am a bit confused though, as to why he brought it in the first place, because you guys all know how screen time works at my house, and everyone should have known that I wouldn't be putting a TV in his room, or letting him monopolize the living room TV like that. I dont let [Joe and George] do that, and it's going to cause a major issue if I start to sh
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  • 12
    Im going to offer him the option of letting me buy him a new controller and couple of games to see if that makes him want to share, but, like I said, I can't start letting him follow one set of rules (that we all knew about beforehand) and expect my boys not to riot full time to have the same privileges. Im sorry if this is something that is important enough for you to end your vacation over, I know you guys look forward to this every year, and I know all the boys (including [Alex]) enjoy their
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  • 13
    A few minutes later I got a call from Tom. Apparently, he had no idea what was going on, and thought my sister had lost her mind, because he had explicitly told his son that he was supposed to be sharing the console, and had even made sure there were two controllers and some multiplayer games on the console, and apparently Sis had told Alex he didnt have to share if he didnt want to and that she would "make sure I put a TV in his room".
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  • 14
    He talked to Alex, gave him a dressing down, and then he apologized to me and told me he'd make it up to me. Alex also apologized (his dad told him to). I gave him a big hug and told him its no big deal. The boys are all currently watching a movie and I guess they'll probably be playing Minecraft or something. My sister hasn't said anything, but Im probably going to have some very blunt words with her at some point in the next week or two about setting me, and more importantly, her son, up. That
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  • 15
    OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the a hole: I am making my nephew choose between sharing or not being able to play his system in order to (in my perspective) be fair and prevent conflict between him and his cousins. His mother thinks I should just tell my boys to get over it and understand they dont have an automatic right to use other people's stuff.
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  • 16
    Shes also thinking about ending her vacation, which would upset all the boys, as they usually only get to stay over with each other a few times a year.
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  • 17
    Cheezburger Image 10513392640
    via Emily Wade

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 18
    Fun-Persimmon1207 9h ago NTA. Sis knew the rules before she left and she laughed them off. I Your house, your rules. If sis doesn't like them, she can find a different baby sitter.
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  • 19
    GreekAmericanDom 9h ago • NTA Your nephew is living under the same rules as your own kids. Even though I get why he is moping, you haven't done anything unfair or cruel. Your sister and BIL, are somewhat of AHs here for not setting better expectations. Maybe they could have waited until after the vacation to get him the PS5.
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  • 20
    Rayonjersey 9h ago "Sure, that's up to you if you want to come home early!" NTA
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  • 21
    ruyrybeyro 9h ago . NTA. Your sister's having a laugh if she thinks he gets to make up his own rules at your gaff. She wouldn't be chuffed if your lads waltzed into her place and took over the telly, would she? If Alex doesn't want to share, that's his shout, but sulking about it ain't on. Tell your sister to wind her neck in and enjoy her holiday.
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  • 22
    Funny_W... NTA You get to set rules in your own house, anyway. But the specifics of this make your sister even more ridiculous. The only way you could apparently appease the complaint she seems to have is to either buy a new TV just for your nephew, so he can play in his room, or move one of your only 2 TVs to accomplish the same thing. She's being completely unreasonable.
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  • 23
    Next-Wishbone1404 9h ago • NTA. If it's your rule that kids don't have systems in their rooms, then it's your rule that kids don't have systems in their rooms. Especially since there isn't a TV to accommodate it! If your sister wants to come home from her vacation early so that her kid can game, that's on her.
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playstation family drama sharing brother sibling rivalry ps5 siblings gaming family feud family sister cousins
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