Guilt is a common currency exchanged in families, sometimes every time they see each other.

Not even a toddler is immune to a guilt trip. So if he gets one, naturally his mom does, too.

See this family dynamic at play in this story.

AITA for telling my father to get over the vase my son broke?

Last October, my son was running around my father’s living room and accidentally knocked the table over, which caused his vase to fall down and break.

I immediately apologized and repeatedly offered to buy a new vase.

My husband and I also cleaned everything up.

Then a dormant grudge unfurls itself.

My father declined my offer to replace it.

But months later, he started making comments about my son breaking the vase almost every time we came over.

Occasionally, he’d also “joke” that we should plan our visits with longer notice so that he could hide his valuables from my kid.

Last week, he threw a party and said my “little ****” had broken it and I hadn’t replaced it.

But OP was not having this treatment.

My husband was nearby and heard it.

After the party, I confronted my father, and we fought.

I said that declining my offer to buy him a new vase does not entitle him to complain about me not doing it.

I also told him to stop blaming my toddler.

I won’t have him calling my son names over this.

My father is still insisting I’m in the wrong here.

AITA?

Here’s what people are saying.

I hope you can buy vases in bulk because this retribution method sounds expensive.

Agreed. Asking can be interpreted as you hoping they’ll say no.

Excellent point. Dementia can cause fixations.

If it didn’t look like dementia, I’d probably laugh at this. I don’t think it would end his fixation, though.

This is very possible. There’s a reason some people want to pay for everything.

I hope he’s evaluated for dementia.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.