It’s hard when your kids expect you to choose sides, especially when you’re doing your best to keep the peace.

What would you do if one adult child refused to visit because another was bringing their dog, despite clear safety precautions being in place?

Would you cancel the visit altogether?

Or would you try to accommodate everyone while still maintaining fairness?

In the following story, one mother finds herself dealing with this very situation, and it quickly spirals out of control.

Here’s what happened.

AITAH for allowing my son to bring his dog for the weekend

I’m a mom of four (supposedly) adult children.

My son has a dog that can be aggressive (d/t trauma as a puppy and just being protective), so when he comes to visit (lives 2 1/2 hrs away), he brings the dog.

We make sure it is always kept locked up away from the kids and have never had an incident at my house.

He did bite someone 3-4 years ago at his house.

His MIL got her hand bit while she was handing a rake to his wife.

He thought she was going to hurt her.

No stitches, just a tooth that caused a large scratch.

He has been through training since, and does much better, but since there is a history, we are super conservative.

The dog will have a safe place to spend the night.

He doesn’t have a place at home for the dog to stay overnight by himself.

My daughter wanted to come home this weekend with my granddaughter (4-hour drive), but refused to if my son’s dog was here.

I promised the dog would stay outside, locked in a kennel.

It’s a 10×10 kennel that’s covered with a doghouse.

For those saying it’s not good for the dog to be kenneled, it’s a perfectly appropriate shelter for a night.

He never attempts to break out.

The daughter had a different way of looking at this situation.

She was not happy with this because it would be nice out, and “what if” he got loose?

I told her I could lock him in the basement while we were outside.

This still wasn’t good enough.

Finally, my son said he would only come home on Saturday for a family dinner and not stay the night.

My daughter still refuses to come home now because I “picked the dog” over them, yelled at me, and threatened to not let us have a relationship with the granddaughter.

I am totally heartbroken, but I feel she was being unreasonable and wanting me to choose her or my son, which I am not doing.

I would never put them in danger and keep my other grandkids when the dog is here without issue.

AITA?

Wow! This whole situation seems a bit childish.

Let’s see how the people over at Reddit feel about the whole thing.

As this person points out, this dog doesn’t belong around kids.

This person is on the sister’s side.

According to this comment, you always put a human life above an animal.

Yes, she admitted the dog has bitten someone.

The dog should stay home.

While she has put forth a pretty solid plan, the fact is that things happen, and it only takes a moment for the dog to slip away and hurt someone.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.