Some kids test boundaries, while others bulldoze right through them and leave a disaster in their wake.

When an exasperated mother couldn’t rein in her youngest’s chaos, her older daughter took matters (and her sister’s electronics) into her own hands.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

AITA for shaming my kid sister into cleaning her room?

I (21F) live with my two kids, while my sister (11F) lives with our mum in the same town. Mum rarely asks for help and tends to handle things on her own.

But her younger sister is quite the handful, to say the least.

However, my sister is very manipulative — constantly blaming Mum, saying she “doesn’t care” and “ruins her life.”

Recently, she screamed at Mum for not washing her school uniform, despite having a pile of clean clothes (including her uniform) in her room for over a week.

But that wasn’t all.

She also trashed her room — dirty underwear, clutter, food packets, moldy dishes, no sheets on her bed, and no clear path through the mess.

She takes food upstairs despite not being allowed and refuses to clean, even when Mum helps. She even yells when Mum tries to clean it for her, insisting, “I like it like that.”

Despite her mom’s best efforts, things never seem to improve.

Mum has tried everything — cleaning with her, guiding her, letting the mess build up, even cleaning it herself — nothing works.

So the older sister decided to try her hand at straightening out her younger sister.

When I casually joked, “Let me stay with her for a day and bully her into cleaning,” Mum shocked me by seriously agreeing, which showed how desperate she was.

She decided to take a different approach than her mother previously had.

So, we swapped houses for a day. With Mum’s full permission, I went full “mean girl.” I took my sister’s TV, phone, tablet, and laptop and told her:

• “If you’re gonna live like a wild dog, might as well put you in a cage.”
• “Mum gives you everything, and this is how you repay her?”
• “Your 4-year-old nephew keeps his room cleaner than this.”
• “Maybe we should send a picture to your school friends.”

Incredibly, this seemed to work.

She huffed, puffed, stomped, cried — but ultimately cleaned her room, proving she could do it.

When Mum came back, she was nearly in tears with relief and hasn’t stopped thanking me. My sister now hates me, but if it makes Mum’s life easier, I can live with that.

But that didn’t stop naysayers from criticizing the older sister’s tactics.

Most of our family understood why I did it, but my grandmother and aunt are mad, saying I should be the “cool older sister” she looks up to, not the one who breaks her down.

But as a parent myself, I feel for Mum more than I do for my sister.

AITA?

It would appear shame (or the threat thereof) is a very effective tactic for the younger generation.

Let’s see what Reddit had to say.

It’s clear to this user that the mother is having a hard time enforcing consistent boundaries with her young daughter.

This could end up putting the older sister in an uncomfortable position long term.

This commenter thinks of the older sister’s success as only temporary.

It may be hard to believe right now, but her younger sister may actually thank her one day.

This youngest sister’s attitude needs just about as much cleaning up as her filthy room.

The older sibling may not win any popularity contests, but sometimes you’ve just gotta give a little tough love.

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