A mom asks Reddit if she’s an a**hole for taking baths with her 2-year-old son after one of her friends called it “sexual abuse.” According to the 26-year-old mom, it was a topic she brought up with a friend, that friend, although she disagrees with her actions, told her to take her question to Reddit to get other people’s opinions as well.
According to the mom, she told her friend that her 2-year-old son hates showers but loves baths. However, the mom admits that when she draws her son a bath, she gets in it with him.
In fact, the mom tells Reddit that she finds their bathing situation to be a “win-win.”
“I bring all kinds of toys and cups because he loves to spill water on himself and even more when he splashes it at my face. If you ask me it’s a win-win situation. I can wash my hair and his at the same time, and he loves the playtime with me in there.”
However, the response from her friend was “not what she expected.” She described her friend’s look as “disgusted.”
“She said what I was doing is very inappropriate especially because he is a boy and that I’m emotionally and possibly sexually abusing my son. I disagreed and we had a huge fight. When I told my other friend what happened she said she sees her point and maybe I shouldn’t do this anymore. I am so confused and I’m wondering if AITA for bathing with my son? Am I abusing him?”
And Reddit was able to put the mom’s mind at ease.
“This is going to be downvoted all to Hell because the USA is one of the most puritanical, uptight nations which produces people with immense hangups surrounding nudity but… NTA. You are bathing your two-year-old child. In other countries, it’s not considered sexual to be naked or even bathe together. It’s unusual in America, but that doesn’t mean it’s inappropriate.”
In the edit, the mom shared that she “would never ever ever do something to hurt my boy. I was so confused and anxious (especially being a first-time mom) so thank you for all of your comments and personal experiences!” The mom also promised to “keep observing” her son’s behavior and “stop bathing with him when the time comes.”
“I have no intention to bathe with him when he’s perfectly able to do it himself,” she concluded.