AITAH for not wanting my aunt to have a key to our house? (This is a repost since the other got taken down).
Hi Reddit, I (19F) honestly don’t know if I’m thinking clearly anymore because I’ve been so overwhelmed, so I really need an outside perspective.
There’s a LOT of history here, but to keep it simple:
My dad’s sister (my aunt) has caused so much chaos in my family over the years. She’s lied about us, manipulated relatives, turned people against us, created fights out of nowhere, and constantly made me, my sister, and my mom feel small or disrespected. She even used my sister when she was a kid to feed into her drama. She’s the kind of person who loves control and attention, and everything has to revolve around her.
Even recently she’s been saying and doing things that just… drain me emotionally. I’ve tried distancing myself because every interaction with her leaves me stressed or angry. But my dad never wants to talk about the past or acknowledge any of it, because “she’s his sister,” and he immediately gets dismissive whenever I bring up my feelings.
Now here’s where everything is exploding for me:
We’re putting a new gate on our property, and my dad wants to give my aunt a key. As in, access to our yard and basically our house whenever she wants.
The idea of her having that kind of access makes my stomach drop. This is MY home. MY safe space. And it’s the one place where I’m not forced to deal with her energy. My mom, my sister, and I all said we don’t feel comfortable with this at all, but my dad keeps acting like we’re overreacting or being dramatic.
I ended up crying yesterday because it’s not even just about the key. It’s all the years of him dismissing how she treated us. All the times he told me to “let it go” or acted like I was the problem for reacting to her behavior. It feels like everything I’ve held in just piled up, and now this key situation is the breaking point.
He doesn’t understand why this is such a big deal to me, but all I can think is: why should someone who has done nothing but disrespect us get a key to our home? Why should she have access to my safe space? Why am I the one being treated like the unreasonable one?
So… AITAH? Or is it normal to not want someone who’s caused so much hurt and tension to literally have the ability to walk into my yard/house anytime?
I’m honestly so tired and emotional right now. Any perspective would help.
NTA – It might be time for you to leave the family home, or at least talk about it.
frfr this. like if u can’t even chill in ur OWN house w/o ppl barging in… time to dip or set some hardcore boundaries
NTA
After reading the introduction about your aunt I had to stop and quickly tell you to not give your aunt a key.
This made me lol but I agree, I can’t let someone like that have access to my safe space.
All the people against your aunt having access need to form a united front. Mom needs to step up to protect her family if Dad is such a sorry excuse for an adult.
NTA
Agreed. Could you and your sister move out or otherwise throw your dad out
My sister is 17 and she’s still in school so, it would be hard to move out and support her as well as me. But I have been thinking of moving out for some time now..
Why would someone who treats your whole family like crap get a key to your house? She’s already caused damage without access, giving her a key is basically handing her a vip pass to more chaos. Hard pass.
Why would she need a key?
My dad said it was for “emergencies”. But the thing is, I’ll be home, my sister will be home and so will be my mom. My other aunts, uncles and older cousins are our neighbours so, they are CLOSER for emergencies.
In other words, she WANTS to have a copy of the key. It makes her feel important and in control. Dad is willing to give her one to shut her up.
OP—Your mom needs to take the lead on telling your dad “no”.
NTA. Since your mom is on your side, you need to work with her to overrule your dad. It doesn’t matter who it is or what relation they are to him, giving keys to people who don’t live there should be a two yes/one no situation.
Without reading more than a few sentences I would NEVER give that aunt a key and it should never be expected to give her one. Heck, my parents and siblings don’t have a key or code to my house and I trust them completely
NTA – Definitely not the a-hole. Your home is your safe space, and if your aunt has caused drama before, I totally understand why you’d want to keep her out. Your feelings are valid!
When he says you are all making a fuss over nothing you all need to tell him straight that you are disappointed in him for allowing his sister to bully him in this way and to not put his family’s comfort first. Shame him for what he is, a weak man