Woman’s Roommate Calls Her ‘Selfish’ for Refusing to Take Her 8-Year-Old Son on a 7-Hour Holiday Road Trip

A woman is questioning whether she’s in the wrong for refusing to bring her roommate’s 8-year-old son along on a holiday trip she planned with her husband and their children.

In a post on the AITAH subreddit, the original poster (OP), 28, explained that she and her husband, 25, moved in with a roommate about five months ago when they needed to relocate quickly. The roommate lives there with her young son.

“He’s a nice kid and often wants to tag along with us when we go places,” OP wrote, adding that they sometimes include him for short local outings. “But not always — especially for trips that are far or when his parents won’t be coming along.”

Recently, OP and her husband organized a seven-hour road trip to visit her family for the holidays with their three daughters, who are 8 months, 2 years and 7 years old.

“Our truck only seats five, so bringing our roommate’s son would make six, which isn’t even possible,” she explained. “Beyond that, it feels like a huge responsibility to take a child we’ve only known for a few months on such a long trip, especially when his parents would be staying behind and nowhere nearby if something happened.”

When OP told her roommate that they wouldn’t be taking her son, the conversation turned sour.

According to OP, the roommate “got upset and said I was being selfish.”

“She told me that since I ‘called the shots’ and didn’t want her son to go, she would no longer allow him to go anywhere with us again,” OP wrote. “I told her she has every right to feel that way, but so do I.”

The situation then escalated further inside the home.

“Since then, she’s also told me I can’t use anything in the shared kitchen, even though I’ve helped with groceries for her a handful of times,” OP continued. “I agreed just to avoid more conflict, but I’m starting to feel tension in the household.”

OP ended her post by asking whether she was wrong for not allowing her roommate’s son to join the trip. Many commenters came to her defense, saying the roommate was out of line.

One commenter wrote that the roommate was “being unreasonable.”

“Her child is not your responsibility, and is not your responsibility to take on vacation,” they said. They went on to warn OP that if the hostility continues, she should consider moving out: “This is only going to get worse, and things will get more hostile. So start looking and have an exit plan. This whole situation is very toxic, and not safe for your family.”

Another commenter echoed the advice to find a new place to live.

“Start looking for a new place to live, right now. It may take a while to find somewhere and you now know that this woman is going to be unreasonable and punish you and your children when she doesn’t get her way,” they wrote.

They also cautioned OP to stop taking the child anywhere at all to protect herself: “Do NOT take her kid anywhere going forwards, no excuses. If she’s this unreasonable, she could flip and accuse you of kidnapping. Lock the doors to your rooms while you’re gone.”