Mom refuses to let ex and his 4-year-old stepson into her home to use the bathroom during custody drop off, he accuses her of punishing a child: “Use the McDonald’s up the road”

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Jul 28, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. No one starts a relationship they think will end, no one moves in together with someone they think they'll break up with, and no one gets married assuming it will end in divorce. Boy, are our instincts so wrong because statistics show that 50% of marriages end in divorce. If only there was any way to know beforehand the ultimate and imminent future for a couple, or your own. 

Have you ever known someone's relationship so intimately as to predict the things that happened in the end? Sometimes it can be glaringly obvious. Love isn't just a word, a feeling, or an appearance. Love is an energy that everyone can feel. When you share space with a couple in love, or two people, you can feel it. I have a good friend whose relationship feels like two people about to lock themselves in a coffin underground. It can be deeply uncomfortable to witness the slow end to a relationship, and know that the couple themselves can't even see it. 

The story below centers around a divorced couple. Read the full story for all the juicy details. 

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  • 01

    AITAH for not letting my ex-husband and one of his future step kids come inside?

    "You made us both look bad"
    via dragana991 from Getty Images / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Our custody arrangement is for each of us to pick the kids up on our day during our two hour pickup window. He arrived at the house, and I already had the boys
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 03
    ready. I saw his car pull into the driveway on my camera, so the boys were already halfway to the door when my ex knocks. I open the door, and he is holding the
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 04
    hand of a four year old. He asks to come in and says his fiance's son needs to use the bathroom.
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 05
    I told him I don't want him to come inside, because I don't feel comfortable with him in my house. He has a history of snooping through my things. He
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 06
    asked me to take his future stepson to the bathroom, and I said I was uncomfortable with the situation. He said his stepson needed to pee. I suggested the
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 07
    McDonald's up the road. He said my bathroom would be way cleaner than a McDonald's.
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10534985472
    via katleho Seisa from Getty Images Signature / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 09
    At this point my eleven year old started pestering his dad to stop so they could leave. My ex said "your brother needs to use the bathroom." My son said "I'll take
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 10
    him." My ex said "No, your mother would rather he pee his pants. We'll go, and hopefully we'll get to the McDonald's in time."
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 11
    My ex and the boys left. He messaged me afterwards saying I was cruel to a child to punish him and that's not okay. He said I
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 12
    made us both look bad in front of our kids and should be embarrassed of my actions. I have been fighting with him for so
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 13
    long my perspective is screwed up. Was I in the wrong?
    via u/BonusWest5031
  • 14
    Alarmed-Speaker-8... • 6h ago If the kid needed to pee the ex could have stopped prior to arriving at his exes. He knows the relationship is
    via u/Alarmed-Speaker-8330
  • 15
    strained. Good lord, he has a two hour window. My ex and I, 6pm. The end.
    via u/Alarmed-Speaker-8330
  • 16
    HickAzn 6h ago This was a power play that backfired. You have a reasonable boundary. Enforce it without guilt. In
    via u/HickAzn
  • 17
    fact your son probably respects you more knowing you aren't a pushover.
    via u/HickAzn
  • 18
    Cheezburger Image 10534985216
    via pong6400 from Getty Images Signature / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 19
    Oh, and your manipulative ex. NTA
    via u/HickAzn
  • 20
    BadMom2Trans • 6h ago Ok, so I like to ask my husband these scenarios and get his 2 cents. He seems to think, because you
    via u/BadMom2Trans
  • 21
    have stated you've had multiple problems with the ex, that this was more about control. He wanted you to do what he said. Was the
    via u/BadMom2Trans
  • 22
    boy hurting and crying because he had to go? If not, my spouse thinks it was a power play by your ex. If it were me, I would have asked
    via u/BadMom2Trans
  • 23
    my son to take him and told the ex to go wait in his car, but if this just like to j... you around then NTA.
    via u/BadMom2Trans

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family drama drama toxic family feud relationships lol love family reddit thread Reddit funny dating custody
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