Having kids can be exhausting.

This man and his wife agreed to keep their bedroom kid-free, but his wife has been letting her daughter stay in their room lately.

When he reminded his wife of their agreement, she did not take it well.

Read the story below for all the details.

AITA for asking my (39M) wife (34F) to maintain our agreement that kids not be in our room?

Last summer, before we got married, my wife and I had a very bad fight.

It was because of my stepdaughter’s behavioral issues.

She has not been formally diagnosed, but she has deep emotional issues and possible neurodivergence.

This man’s stepdaughter can be difficult at times.

It’s extremely stressful and difficult at times.

She says extremely mean and abusive things to us.

She yells and screams all the time, and she even hits and kicks us.

He almost broke up with his wife because of his stepdaughter.

It was just getting to be too much for me to handle, and we almost broke up because of this, while we were engaged.

After talking, we came to an agreement that we would stay together.

That’s if my wife introduced and enforced boundaries with her 9-year-old daughter.

They agreed they’ll keep their bedroom child-free.

She then proposed that we make space for ourselves and do not allow her into our room.

We’ll make it our sanctuary, so that we can have some room to breathe.

Otherwise, she follows us around everywhere, even in our room, and it’s exhausting!

They implemented some rules that his stepdaughter should strictly follow.

Sometimes, she may enter to give us a hug, but she must knock before entering.

And likewise, we agreed to knock on her door before we entered.

We both upheld this for about 6 months.

His wife had been breaking their agreement.

In the past month, however, my wife has been allowing her to enter our room frequently, and she lets her her stay for long periods of time

This happens especially when I am away from home working.

I work evenings, remotely.

Tonight, I came home from working in a cafe, and my stepdaughter was in our room and in our bed.

He reminded his wife about the agreement.

I kindly texted my wife.

“Not to create a bad mood or anything. But can she please no longer be in our room after 8:30 (her bedtime)? I want our room to be for us in the evenings, as we agreed.”

The original agreement was that she should not be in our room for an extended time, but I was trying to be understanding, so I mentioned 8:30.

His wife did not take it well.

After this, my wife gave me the silent treatment.

She marched around the house angrily for about 10 minutes.

Then she said, “You hate her.”

I told her “No, I don’t. I want to see her. But I also want our room to be our space in the evenings, regularly, as we agreed.”

AITA for expecting my wife to continue to enforce this boundary that we both agreed on?

They really need to talk about this. Surely his wife remembers that they had an agreement.

Let’s see what others have to say about this on Reddit.

This person suggests having a discussion with her.

Here’s another valid point from this user.

Boundaries are a must, says this person.

This person thinks it’s a wife issue, not a child issue.

Finally, a short and straightforward remark.

An agreement is an agreement. No ifs, no buts.

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.