Woman Backed for Making 7-Year-Old Niece Cry: 'Spoiled F**king Brat'

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In a now-viral post, a woman said she made her 7-year-old niece cry by calling her a "spoiled f**king" brat."

Posting in Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) forum under the username u/aunttired67, the woman said she made the comment in response to one of her niece's destructive temper tantrums. The post has garnered over 11,000 upvotes and more than 1,700 comments from supportive Redditors who said the 7-year-old needs to understand that her actions have consequences.

Giving Kids Consequences

Writing for Verywell Family, psychotherapist Amy Morin said kids need to receive consequences because when done correctly, consequences "teach expectations" and "curtail misbehavior."

"The spirit of using consequences is not to make your child feel humiliated, embarrassed, ashamed, or unloved. Instead, this approach should help them understand and remember that misbehavior has unpleasant results (such as losing their electronics) that they'd like to avoid in the future," Morin said.

Mom yelling at kid — Here, a stock photo of a mother scolding a child. In a now-viral post, a woman said she made her seven-year-old niece cry by calling her a "spoiled f**king brat." Anastasiia Korotkova/istock

In order to work, Morin said consequences need to be "clearly defined" and given consistently.

"Always outline how long the consequence is in effect," she said. "If you take away a privilege for the whole day, don't give in early. Commit to doing what you say and saying what you mean."

Morin said consequences should also be immediate and age-appropriate and warned that they should be used as a "teaching tool."

"They are not intended to shame kids the way punishments often do. In fact, punishments often make behavior problems worse, not better," Morin said.

'Spoiled F**king Brat'

Though u/aunttired67's comment toward her niece may not have been, by definition, a consequence, Redditors argued it was deserved.

In her post, u/aunttired67 said her sister and niece recently moved in with her because her sister is going through a divorce, and "tensions are high."

"My niece is terrible, to be honest. She screams all day long at the top of her lungs. I work from home so I have tried to get my sister to get her to stop, but she's so depressed from her divorce that she struggles to get out of bed," u/aunttired67 wrote. "I have asked my niece to quiet down myself but she just smirks at me and continues playing and screeching. I have gotten reprimanded at work for it."

Additionally, u/aunttired67 said her niece recently broke her laptop, and on Thursday, she caught the 7-year-old playing with her Nintendo Switch, something she previously told her niece not to touch.

"Annoyed, I held my hand out and told her to give it. She ignored me. I called for my sister to take care of her daughter but she was asleep and told me to leave her alone. So I just grabbed the Switch right from my niece's hands and took it back to my room. She started screaming and crying and literally rolling on the floor but I ignored her," u/aunttired67 recalled.

"Well, she decided that was just not acceptable so she took a Sharpie and drew all over the living room wall. When I saw it, I freaked [the f**k] out! I told her she's a spoiled f**king brat. She started screaming and crying even worse which finally woke my sister up," u/aunttired67 continued.

Redditor u/aunttired67's sister ran out of her room and scolded u/aunttired67. In response, u/aunttired67 told her sister she needed to "get her s**t together" and learn to "control" her daughter, otherwise, she'd be forced to kick them out.

"My sister started crying, called me an AH [a**hole], and she and my niece haven't come out of their room. I feel bad now."

Redditors React

As previously stated, many commenters agreed that u/aunttired67 did nothing wrong.

"NTA [not the a**hole]—seven is old enough to receive some blowback and while harsh, I don't think unwarranted." u/LayCub said.

"NTA—and make [your] niece wash the walls or paint them to get rid of the marker. She needs to have consequences for her actions. And yes, she is a spoiled brat," u/Shar4j wrote.

"Someone has to give some consequences," u/nobracketsociety commented.

Redditor u/Kitfox88 added: "NTA. Everyone has a limit and yours was very generous."

Newsweek reached out to u/aunttired67 for comment.