Doing what is right for a child is not always the same as doing what their parent wants.

What would you do if your nephew asked to join a ballet class but you knew his father would disapprove?

Would you risk damaging your relationship with your sibling to support your nephew’s interests?

Or would you stay quiet and avoid getting involved?

In the following story, one aunt finds herself in this exact situation with her brother.

Here’s how it all played out.

AITA for enrolling my nephew into a ballet class against his dad’s wishes?

I (27F) love my nephew (10M) very much.

He’s a very intelligent, kind, and sweet kid.

He also has very unique interests for a boy his age, and his father (38M) disapproves of most of them.

He’s a good father, but he isn’t very supportive of his son (we’ll call him Andy).

For example, Andy likes to crochet with me, but my brother Jared has told me privately to do other activities with Andy.

But he has never expressed his disapproval directly towards Andy.

Andy’s mother passed away a few years ago, and it’s been hard on the family.

We don’t have much of an extended family as they live across the country, but I’ve been there to support Andy and his father (Jared) the whole time.

Here’s where they disagree.

I’ve been bonding more and more with Andy and learning more about his interests.

Now, the trouble arose when Andy asked me to enroll him in our local community center’s ballet classes.

I think it would be a great opportunity for him, and I don’t think that ballet is gendered.

I did, however, have a sneaking suspicion that Jared would disapprove.

I still enrolled Andy in the classes for the summer, and he is overjoyed.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about his father.

He is quite upset at me for going behind his back and making him do something so “girly.”

He has not visibly expressed his disappointment towards Andy, but he has not talked to me for the past few days.

Andy is really excited about the classes, and I don’t think he is aware of the conflict it has caused between his father and me.

The classes are free, so Jared is not mad about the money, but I still feel like I have been duplicitous towards my own brother.

AITA?

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Yikes! It’s easy to see both sides of this, but he is the parent.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit have to say about what happened.

For this person, there are no winners.

Here’s an excellent point.

According to this comment, you don’t overrule a parent unless there’s danger.

Here’s someone who thinks she and her brother are wrong for different reasons.

As this person explains, there’s nothing wrong with ballet, but she shouldn’t have gotten involved.

She should stay out of it.

No matter how you look at it, Andy is Jared’s son, so she has no right to go against his wishes with this.

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.