When it comes to raising kids, even the best of marriages are tested.

And in this story, the couple who are raising their niece as a daughter are working largely as a team.

Until an important decision comes along and he asserts his sole guardianship.

Read on to find out how his choices have threatened his family harmony.

AITA for saying to my wife that I’m the one who gets to make decisions about my niece?

My wife and I are raising my 14-year-old niece.

It’s a long story, having to do with my sister getting herself pregnant from a deadbeat and proving overall unfit to be a mother.

Bottom line is, I see my niece as my daughter and love her just as much as my own biological children (two boys aged 11 and 8).

I know my wife also loves her the same way, however I’m legally my niece’s sole legal guardian.

Read on to find out how his happy family situation went sour.

My niece has practiced gymnastics for the past ten years.

When she was about seven or eight, one of the coaches at her gym took notice of her potential and suggested she could really make it as a professional athlete.

I personally believe my wife and my niece were taken by this promise of future glory (“can you imagine if she competes in the Olympics one day?” my wife said).

I was always VERY cautious because I do realize the shots are slim.

I also knew that could cost us a lot of money going forward, but the coach believed so much in her that they managed to cover some of the costs of her training on the gym’s dime.

Let’s see how her training has progressed.

And when I say training, I mean TRAINING – some serious hard work.

I told them I was fine with the idea as long my niece was happy doing gymnastics and it didn’t majorly impact her life.

But last month, she tore her ACL during practice.

We do have insurance, so the medical costs were covered.

However, she’s going through a painful recovery, all the while wondering when she’ll be healthy enough to get back to the gym.

I told my wife I don’t want her to do this anymore.

Seeing her get hurt and in pain made me realize this is a dangerous sport, and the toll it’s taking on her body is simply not worth it.

Uh-oh. Let’s see how this guy’s wife reacted.

My wife said I couldn’t make this decision without considering what my niece wants.

I said I can because I’m the adult here and she’s still a child.

So my wife said there was still the matter of her disagreeing with my view, and that we were supposed to make parenting decisions together.

I then said that’s true regarding our boys, but not when it comes to my niece.

All I meant is that I’m the sole guardian in the sense of being responsible for her; what my wife got is that I was undermining her as a surrogate mother.

AITA?

It’s no wonder that this guy has upset his wife.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this.

This person thought that the man had no right taking full claim for the niece.

And this Redditor thought he was being extremely pessimistic and close-minded.

Meanwhile, another comment provided a reality check through first-hand experience.

This guy is being such a hypocrite: raising the kid with his wife but undermining her on important decisions is not okay.

And could he have just a little belief in his niece? Sure she might not go to the Olympics, but she is good at something and her passion absolutely should be encouraged.

This guy needs to sort out his priorities.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.