When you see someone parent in a different way than you would, it can be tricky to bite your tongue and not put your two cents into the situation.
If the parent in question is one of your family members, however, it will likely be in your best interest to try and keep the peace and try to ignore the situation.
One woman felt like she couldn't let her sister's children's behaviour go, however, so when she was planning her birthday party, she decided to make it child-free.
But some people weren't happy with her choice - so she provided evidence to show them why she'd done it.
She took to Reddit to rant, writing: "My sister Angel claims to use 'hands-off parenting' with my niece Sofia and nephew Parker. In actuality, Angel is entirely permissive and refuses to discipline them. She expects other adults to step in when Sofia and Parker's behavior is getting out of hand.
"For this reason, I asked Angel to get a babysitter for Sofia and Parker if she wanted to attend my 27th birthday. I love Sofia and Parker as their aunt. And at the same time, I want a peaceful evening to celebrate my birthday instead of dealing with Sofia and Parker's behavior, because I know Angel isn't going to discipline them herself."
She was glad when her sister "acted understanding" when she told her about no children, but things took a sinister turn when her sister made a Facebook post.
She continued: "She went online and made a Facebook post accusing me of hating Sofia and Parker and trying to punish Angel by only inviting our sister Jessica's kid Megan to my birthday dinner. (Nevermind that Megan is 17 and is practically an adult herself.)
"Several of our relatives and mutual acquaintances called me out and said I was an a**hole and was excluding a 10 and 7-year-old. I responded to Angel's post by sharing two videos of Sofia and Parker misbehaving while Angel did nothing.
"The first video was a recording taken by Megan, where Sofia and Parker were throwing tantrums and yelling at her. Megan was trying to calm Sofia and Parker down while Angel was on her tablet ignoring the situation.
"The other video was one that Angel took. Sofia and Parker were yelling, and throwing toys at each other, and Parker even called his sister a bad word. Angel was laughing as if it were funny and was again doing nothing to discipline Sofia or Parker.
"I wrote alongside the videos that I love Sofia and Parker as their aunt. But at the same time, I want a peaceful evening to celebrate my birthday. And I don't want to be stuck disciplining Sofia and Parker because clearly, Angel won't. Angel ended up not coming to my birthday at all.
"My parents told me that I was in the wrong for sharing those videos, because everyone's children have acted up and posting those videos didn't accomplish anything besides embarrassing Angel."
In a later edit, the original poster clarified that nobody random would've been able to see these videos other than friends, as their Facebook settings are private.
"Not the a**hole", someone exclaimed. "Angel attempted to get social sympathy and you smacked it right down. Good for you!"
Another wrote: "Before you bad mouth someone, make sure they don’t have proof of what you're doing."
A Redditor fumed: "Almost 100% of the time 'hands-off parenting' just means not parenting at all which results in spoiled children who grow into adults who are at best useless to society but more often are actually detrimental to society."
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