70-year-old aunt wants to take 4-year-old to Six Flags only if his mom doesn't come too but the kid is scared and only wants to go if mom comes too, so the aunt bails

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Etai Eshet • Editor
Aug 6, 2026 2:00 PM EDT

Aunt wants the kid alone. Kid wants his mom. Aunt pulls the Six Flags tickets like a poker player folding a bad hand. Sounds like a nice lady

A relative who treats "quality time" like a Hollywood megaphone outside of a blockaded bank hostage negotiation leads to weird stories. Here, the premise is: No parents allowed, no witnesses, just Auntie and the kid, like she's trying to recreate a Werner Herzog documentary about isolation. And look, wanting one-on-one time with a kid isn't a crime. But the second someone adds "only if the mom stays home" to the invite, it stops being a fun day out at Six Flags and more like a fun aunt waiving Red Flags.

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  • AIO...my aunt (70) wants to take my son (4) to Six Flags but only if I do not attend.

    Older woman smiles beside a young boy in a blue shirt as they sit together indoors.
    via pics five

    older woman smiling beside a young boy

    Subjects are models

  • At the start of summer my Aunt purchased season tickets to Six Flags Great American theme parks for me (30s F), my son (4), and herself (70).
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  • Background info: Part of the motivation behind buying the season passes was we had family visiting from out of state and with
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  • each season pass we get 1 free admission with us. The three season passes allowed for 6 people to get in when the family
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  • was visiting, plus free parking and we only had to purchase one additional ticket during their visit.
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  • staged photo of an older woman warmly engaging with a young boy, like a family plan is being pushed despite his hesitation.
    via pics five

    Older woman smiles at a young boy

    Representative image

  • Prior to the family visiting my aunt wanted to take my son, at that time, having not been to six flags in 10 years and my sons age, I
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  • decided I didn't feel comfortable with the two of them going without me. I figured since I also
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  • had a season pass, no harm no foul. My aunt was not happy with my attendance but dealt with it. During that trip, I was glad I was
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  • there because the place was packed, there were rides my son wanted to go on that my aunt
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  • Unfortunately for auntie, kids are the world's worst liars because they're also the world's worst actors. A four-year-old cannot fake enthusiasm for anything, let alone a 90-decibel theme park full of strangers in cartoon costumes. If the kid says "I'm scared, I want mom," it’s a toddler-shaped polygraph test that says they're telling the truth. Four-year-olds don't have the emotional Photoshop skills adults have. What you see is what you get, and what you got here was a kid basically saying "I trust one specific human to shield me from the sensory chaos of a roller coaster gift shop."

  • didn't, and my aunt took frequent breaks at benches due to her age and overall health.
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  • Now to the current issue. My son has now been to Six Flags twice, both times I was there and so was my aunt. My aunt reached out
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  • asking to take my son just them before school starts back up. When I ask my son about he always asks "with mom too?", I say
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  • scared and only wants to go if I am there. We go round and round and the outcome is always the
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  • same, he wants me there. He says he's scared and mom helps him be brave.
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  • So I reached back out to my aunt, explained my sons thoughts/wants and gave her dates that both of us could attend.
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  • Her response: "I understand. I think I'm going to pass then."
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  • I'm pred. I feel like this is utter BS and for her to dangle this in front of a child and then pull away if their mom is around...alarm bells are going off in my head.
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  • This mother says "I can't do the no-mom rule," and suddenly it's "I think I'll pass then," delivered with the warmth of a disappointed substitute teacher. The family version of slamming a door softly enough that you can still claim you didn't slam it. Did i say she sounds like a nice lady?

  • So. Strangers on the Internet, AIO?
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Tags

family drama mother amusement park theme park aunt family red flag six flags grandmother mom
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