But the boy's mom is the one the internet decided to slam, telling her to "grow up," despite learning the "good Christian" hosts of the sleepover were trying to force the middle schooler to get naked and lie down so they could put a diaper on him like a baby
Warning: Disturbing Content
A confused and outraged mother took to Reddit after she was slammed on Facebook for trying to protect her son.
The post, shared to an anonymous forum, saw the parent finally get support from the AITA (am I the a--hole) community.
The tale featured many bizarre twists and turns -- with the mom admitting she even felt sympathy for the family until she learned exactly what they were trying to do.
Read on to see for yourself.
Then the shocker came when my son told me she tried to make him take off his pants and lay on the floor so she could put it on him ... She got belligerent and said [my son] didn't have anything she hasn't seen before.
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"I'm 37F. I have a 10 year old son. I'll call him Sam," the mother began.
"My son was invited to a sleepover from one of his classmates, let's call him Taylor. Because I didn't know his parents very well, we got together a few times so we could get to know each other. We eventually set up a date and the other mother, which I'll call Lady [from] now on, insisted on hosting the event. I agreed and later dropped my son off, telling him to behave and all that jazz," OP (original poster) continued.
"Toward the end of the day around 9-ish, I got a call from my son's phone," she explained. "He has a basic flip phone for things like this. He was upset and wanted to come home. I asked what was wrong and he told me that Lady wanted to put him in a diaper."
"I told him to put her on the phone and she answered it in a huff telling me my son [was] being stubborn and misbehaving. I could hear my son in the background saying he just wanted to go home. So I told her I'd be there in a few minutes and hung up."
She argued back that it wouldn't hurt him and would make Taylor feel better. To be honest I kind of understood where she was coming [from] and even considered asking Sam if he'd be willing to do it for his friend. That was until I saw the thing.
"When I got there I was let in by her husband, he apologized for the trouble and I went to find my son. He was still upset when I found him sitting at their kitchen table along with Taylor," the mom wrote. "Asked him what was going on and he explained to me that because Taylor wet his bed Lady wanted him to wear a diaper as well. I turned and looked at lady and told her Sam doesn't wet the bed and didn't need to put anything extra on for bed."
"She argued back that it wouldn't hurt him and would make Taylor feel better," OP recalled. "To be honest I kind of understood where she was coming [from] and even considered asking Sam if he'd be willing to do it for his friend."
"That was until I saw the thing, I was expecting a pullup. But this was what looked like a thick adult diaper meant to fit kids," the mom said, clearly still in shock. "Then the shocker came when my son told me she tried make him take off his pants and lay on the floor so she could put it on him. I turned back to Lady and told [her] how inappropriate this all was and collected his things to leave. She got belligerent and said Sam didn't have anything she hasn't seen before."
"So we left, Taylor the [poor] boy looked crestfallen. Not that [I] blame him at all. But my problem and the reason for this post is [due] to the fact Lady put what happened on Facebook. Most of the commenters are on her side."
"So am I the a--hole for taking my child home?"
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First of all, as mentioned above, Reddit was a much more understanding place for the mom.
"NTA. Making a 10-year old take off his pants against his will in order to put him into an un-needed diaper would get you in trouble with the police in most countries," one top comment read. "I would politely let one or two other gossipy moms in the class know what is going on and let her be rightly reviled. Her intent was good, but her execution was horrific. If she put hands on my son to make him take his pants off, there would be hell to pay, let me tell you. I wouldn’t put my hands on her, but there would be words with the right people."
"If you feel the need to correct things on FB, I would say: 'Lady, every story has two sides. All I ask is that strangers do not seek to put their hands on my son’s undressed body.' But that would cause a sh*tstorm, so maybe don’t…" they further advised.
Grow up, it wasn't anything sexual.
In reply, OP wrote: "She worded it like I let myself into her house and told her what she could and couldn't do in her own home. She presents herself like a good Christian lady. She underplayed her part and overplayed mine."
Another commenter echoed: "NTA Comment on her Facebook post, 'So all you parents would be okay with an adult trying remove your 10 year old child's clothes and have them do something they didn't want to do?'"
OP then shared some of the vitriol she'd been subjected to: "Comments on my side already have. Most of the rebuttals were on the lines of 'Grow up, it wasn't anything sexual'."
"It doesn't have to be overtly sexual to be problematic behaviour," one upset Redditor wrote in response. "I don't care if they're not getting off on it, I wouldn't want anyone taking off my son's pants as a 10yo unless it's a medical emergency. It's about personal boundaries and safe bodies. I wouldn't expect to just pull down my 4yo nephews pants and put on a nappy either. Your son felt uncomfortable and ignored by her to the point that he called you upset and wanting out. This is a good indicator of how unsafe she made him feel at the time. Stick to your boundaries and tell your son well done!"
What do you think?
The National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline -- 800.656.HOPE (4673) -- provides free, 24/7 support for those in need.