Adoption can sometimes be a challenging topic to explain to a young child.

When one parent casually shared information about a neighbor’s adoption with their 4 year old, they unwittingly gave away a secret their neighbor had been saving for later.

Read on for all the details.

AITA for revealing the neighbor kid is adopted?

My husband and I recently adopted a 1 year old boy. We also have 2 bio kids a 4 year old and 7 year old.

When talking to the kids about their new brother and explaining adoption, I had mentioned that the 5 year old neighbor girl is also adopted.

The mother thought this was a harmless piece of information.

Her mom and I aren’t close friends, but we talk occasionally when we are both outside and our kids play together.

She had mentioned it to me when I had told her we were adopting.

But she couldn’t have been more wrong.

Yesterday, I get a knock on the door. It was the neighbor and she was furious.

My 4 year old told her daughter that she was adopted like her little brother.

They hadn’t told her yet and weren’t planning on it until she was older.

The mother tried to defend herself, but her neighbor was livid.

I told her I didn’t know it was a secret but I’m sorry.

She told me I shouldn’t have told a 4 year old such personal information whether I knew it was a secret or not.

Then she stormed off.

I do feel bad, but honestly I didn’t know it was a secret.

AITA here?

Of course, if the mother knew it was a secret, she probably wouldn’t have said anything.

What did Reddit think?

The neighbor should have thought more carefully about her actions.

Perhaps it will bring the kids closer together since they both know.

The neighbor should have disclosed that her kid didn’t know.

This user isn’t a fan of keeping secrets from the kids.

In the end, it seems maybe telling the kid wasn’t the worst possible outcome. After all, maybe it will bring the neighborhood kids closer.

Surely companionship and understanding would be better for her child than a secret.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.