Woman Applauded For Shutting Down Mom's Irate Friend: 'Go To Your Room'

Members of a popular internet forum were quick to defend one 25-year-old woman who laughed directly in the face of their mother's belligerent friend.

In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/throwaway372828282 (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said they have little to no contact with their mother but revealed how a recent interaction turned contentious after a brazen third party was involved.

Titled, "[Am I the a**hole] for laughing in my mother's friend's face when she told me to 'go to my room?'" the post has received nearly 15,000 upvotes and 1,000 comments in the last eight hours.

"I don't speak to my mother," OP began. "Like at all."

Continuing to explain that they needed an important document they left behind when they moved out at 18, the original poster said they were forced to return to their mother's home, despite not wanting to.

The original poster also said they didn't even have a chance to step in the door before their mother asked if they would babysit their younger siblings so she could attend a last-minute memorial service.

"As soon as I got to the house, my mother suddenly had a massive 'emergency' and realised that it was apparently her friend's funeral today," OP wrote. "She asked me if I would watch my two younger brothers (7 and 11)...and I said absolutely not, as it's my only day off...and I have no relationship with them due to my mother stopping them from seeing me.

"My mother [then] asked her friend if she would babysit and asked me to stay for 10 minutes until her friend came," OP continued. "I was seething but resolved to wait 10 minutes.

"My mother's friend turned up and started berating me for not agreeing to look after my brothers...then told me to 'go to my room,'" OP added. "I laughed in her face...and I told her [I'm going to] 'my room, at my apartment, that I pay for with my big girl job. Because I'm an adult, not a child.'"

Despite the notion that tension with parents will cease when a child turns 18 and moves out on their own, some parental difficulties can last a lifetime.

But adults aren't forced to carry the same burden they did while living under the same roof as their toxic parents and according to Very Well Mind, adults are entitled to maintain the exact relationship they want—or don't want—with their parents.

By setting boundaries, prioritizing self care and voicing specific needs, individuals and sibling groups dealing with this type of toxicity are able to keep parents at an arm's length, allowing for improved mental health and personal growth.

"Establish boundaries and stick to them," Very Well Mind contributor Brittany Loggins asserts. "This is especially important in adulthood."

"Make it clever to the parent that if these boundaries aren't respected, you will limit contact or time spent with them," Loggins adds.

When boundary-setting and other coping mechanisms are ineffective, however, some adults take the extra step, cutting off contact with their parents completely.

In their viral Reddit post, the original poster made it clear that they limited contact with their mother when they turned 18 and said "there is always some drama" anytime they cross paths.

Throughout the viral post's comment section, Redditors commended the original poster's mental fortitude and delighted at the brutal takedown over their mother's overstepping friend.

"[Not the a**hole]," Redditor u/NoreastNorwest wrote in the post's top comment, which has received nearly 18,000 upvotes. "I actually quite admire your refusal to get drawn in."

"I hope you enjoy the freedom from having to deal with them, OP" Redditor u/daughter-of-durin added, receiving more than 3,000 upvotes. "May it be full of autonomy and independence."

Redditor u/Fantastic-Focus-7056, whose comment has received more than 6,000 upvotes, scoffed at the idea of a 25-year-old being sent to their bedroom.

"The audacity to try and send someone else's adult child to their room," they wrote. "I would have laughed too."

"You're [not the a**hole] now and you'd have been [not the a**hole] if you had been a minor," Redditor u/_ewan_ echoed, receiving nearly 3,000 upvotes. "She had no business speaking to you that way regardless."

Newsweek reached out to u/throwaway372828282 for comment.