Picture this: your best friend looks you dead in the eye and says, “I want your kid, not you. He’s much nicer than you are.” About your four-year-old. If that doesn’t send chills down your spine, buckle up because this story gets so much worse.

A 29-year-old single mom recently shared her jaw-dropping experience on Reddit, and let me tell you – the internet had thoughts. What started as a simple scheduling mix-up quickly spiraled into something that has thousands of strangers genuinely concerned for this child’s safety.

Here’s how it all went down. Our mom – let’s call her Sarah – has a best friend who’s “extremely attached” to her 4-year-old son. Red flag number one, but we’re just getting started.

Last Tuesday, the friend asked to spend time with the little boy on Saturday. Sarah agreed – she had work to catch up on, and hey, what single parent doesn’t appreciate a break? Everything seemed perfectly normal.

But then Thursday night happened, and friends, this is where things get weird.

Sarah excitedly mentioned she’d made plans to take her son to see Christmas lights on Friday. Innocent enough, right? Wrong. Her best friend’s response? “Oh well I wanted him on Friday.”

Wait for it – they had already agreed on Saturday. Sarah even had screenshot proof of their original conversation. But instead of backing down, she tried to be the reasonable friend. She invited her bestie to join them for the Christmas lights AND confirmed she could still have her Saturday plans with the boy.

Any normal person would say “Oh my bad, Saturday works great!” and move on. But this friend? She completely lost it.

What happened next is honestly disturbing. This woman spent an entire day accusing Sarah of being “offended” that she wanted time with the child. She kept insisting Sarah was angry and should rearrange her own schedule to accommodate the day switch.

But here’s the part that made my skin crawl: she kept repeating “I wanted the kid, not you” like some sort of twisted mantra. As if Sarah should be… jealous? Of her own four-year-old?

Then came the line that has Reddit collectively losing its mind: “Your kid is much nicer, I never fight with him. I like him better than you.”

I’m sorry, WHAT? We’re talking about a preschooler here. Of course you don’t “fight” with a four-year-old the same way you do with adults – that’s called being a functional human being around children!

The manipulation didn’t stop there. When Sarah maintained her perfectly reasonable boundary, her friend pulled out the ultimate guilt trip: “Okay fine, I’ll never spend time with him again since that’s how you want it.”

Classic emotional blackmail, and Sarah never even suggested cutting off contact. She literally kept saying her friend could take the boy on Saturday as originally planned!

But here’s what really got to Sarah – and honestly, what should terrify any parent reading this. Her friend was talking about her son like he was an object she owned rather than a human child with his own mother making decisions in his best interest.

Sarah felt like her friend was treating her as “some obstacle” rather than, you know, the child’s actual parent. The woman was literally using a four-year-old as a weapon to manipulate his mother. Let that sink in.

When Sarah finally set a boundary – that insulting the mother wouldn’t get you access to the child – her friend immediately backpedaled. “It was a joke! Why would I like him better than you? You’re being absolutely ridiculous.”

Ah yes, the classic “it was just a joke” defense when someone gets called out for completely unhinged behavior.

The Reddit community did not hold back in their responses, and honestly, their reactions are more telling than the original story.

The top comment, with over 3,500 upvotes, cut straight to the chase: “You would be the asshole if you leave this unhinged woman alone with your child.” Thousands of strangers were genuinely concerned about this child’s safety based on one conversation.

Another highly-upvoted response was even more direct: “You need to distance yourself from this friend for your child’s sake. It absolutely sounds like she wants your kid for her own.”

One commenter asked the question we’re all thinking: “Please tell me she doesn’t have a spare key.” The fact that this is a legitimate concern tells you everything about how disturbing this situation really is.

What makes this so unsettling isn’t just the possessive language – it’s the calculated manipulation. This friend knew exactly what buttons to push, how to make Sarah question herself, and how to use her love for her child against her.

The gaslighting was textbook: insisting Sarah was angry when she wasn’t, claiming she was being unreasonable for maintaining basic parental authority, then dismissing legitimate concerns as “jokes” when called out.

As a parent, this story hits different. We all want our kids to have loving adults in their lives, but there’s a massive difference between being a caring family friend and… whatever this behavior was.

Healthy adults who love children understand that parents make the rules. They don’t try to manipulate their way into alone time or speak about kids like possessions they’re entitled to.

The most chilling part? This friend specifically wanted Friday instead of Saturday for reasons she never explained. Why was that particular day so important? What was different about Friday that made Saturday suddenly unacceptable?

Sarah’s instincts were spot-on. When someone shows you who they are through their treatment of your child, believe them the first time.

So here’s what I want to know: Have you ever had a friend whose behavior around your kids made you uncomfortable? How do you handle relationships when someone crosses boundaries with your children? And most importantly – what would you do if someone told you they preferred your four-year-old to you?

Because honestly, after reading this story, I think we all know what the right answer should be.

Post Stats:

• Original upvotes: 1,209
• Comments: 288
• Reading time: ~2 min

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Story originally shared on r/AmItheAsshole. Read the original discussion