A child was left sobbing after his auntie 'cruelly' banned him from using her swimming pool.
Those lucky enough to have an outside garden space that will fit a pool, or even a small paddling pool, will likely have been spending this week lounging in the cool water to escape the scorching heat faced by many parts of Scotland. This weekend you may even have invited friends and family over to join you in enjoying the lovely weather from the comfort of your pool.
However, as reported by the Mirror, one mum was left furious when she was invited to her sister's house for a barbecue and her son was banned from playing in the pool. She explained that her sister - whom she gave the fake name Ava to protect her identity - recently bought a house with a built-in swimming pool.
She invited family over for a small party in which she "mentioned letting the kids play in the pool". However, when she arrived at the party, she was told her three-year-old son wouldn't be allowed to get in the pool with the other children, because he's currently still being potty trained and Ava deemed it "unhygienic" to let him in the water.
In a post on Reddit, the mum fumed: "She mentioned letting the kids play in the pool so I only assumed my kids would get to be included. We are potty training, although my youngest is still in diapers at the moment.
"At the barbecue, I was getting my youngest ready for the pool by changing him into a swim diaper. Ava pulled me aside and told me she doesn't think it's 'hygienic' for my youngest to play in the pool, since swim diapers don't hold pee and she asked that he doesn't swim in the pool with the other kids playing in it.
"I didn't think this was fair and told Ava that lots of people, adults and kids, pee in the pool and it would be no different at a public pool so what's the problem?"
The mum accused her sister of being "condescending" toward her and her son - however, Ava held firm and told her that her son wouldn't be allowed in the pool. Her opinion was also backed up by the rest of their family, but the mum was still fuming and accused her family of "downplaying" how badly Ava had treated her and her son.
She added: "She was being really condescending and wouldn't listen to me at all and said that he can play in the pool when he's 'toilet trained', and said it's not fair on the other kids. At this point, my son was crying because he wanted to swim in the pool and I told Ava she was being cold but it's her house and her pool so do what you want. Ava accused me of trying to guilt trip her and told me to just drop it.
"I was getting upset myself at this point and I told our parents and other siblings about what Ava did. They told me it was not a big deal and that it was not worth arguing with her over and to try not to let it bother me.
"I wasn't happy with this because this essentially means they were siding with her and downplaying how she treated me and my son. I left the barbecue early with my family because we didn't feel welcome after that."
Ava tried to reach out to her sister after the party to insist she wasn't trying to "exclude" her son. However, the mum refused to forgive her, insisting she had "damaged her relationship with her nephew". Commenters on the Reddit post were firmly on the sister's side, with many of them saying it was 'her pool' and she had a right to not want people to pee in it.
One person said: "Not sure why peeing in the pool is considered OK by a lot of people but it's f***ing disgusting and your sister has a right to say no."
While another added: "This isn't a public pool. It's her private pool at her house, and if she doesn't want to risk having someone p**s in it, she should be able to make that call without being argued at. Peeing in public pools is gross and wrong too, FYI."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
