Campgrounds are full of laughter, play, and the occasional awkward encounter.

One camping trip started off peaceful enough, but when one guest accidentally set off a protective mother, it turned into an awkward standoff.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for assuming the gender of a screaming child?

I (48F) am staying at a campground on vacation, and a group of children were running around playing.

They were not causing any harm—just playing.

I kept hearing a very high-pitched, screeching squeal indicative of a small little girl.

It wasn’t a distressed squeal, just a squeal.

So when she brought up the squeal later, it caused a storm of drama.

Later, while sitting at the laundry area, three boys—I would say around the ages of 14, 10, and 7—came up to buy ice.

I recognized one as one of the children who had been playing earlier.

A conversation started, and I asked if they had a little sister.

I told them I thought I heard a little girl playing with them.

They said no—that the squealing was coming from the 10-year-old boy.

Of course, the other two boys laughed like crazy.

I felt terrible. Just terrible.

Then mama bear got involved.

I apologized profusely.

Later, the mother of the three approached me and said I had called her son a girl.

I explained and apologized to her as well.

I told her I felt bad for it, but it was just an honest mistake.

She left in a huff and now has been side-eyeing me every time I’m around them.

I’m not sure what else I can do.

I have five more days left of this trip, and it’s become so uncomfortable.

AITA? I apologized. I feel bad.

It was a harmless mistake made in passing, not a comment intended to be malicious.

What did Reddit think?

This issue really runs much deeper.

The mother was way out of line here.

Kids aren’t usually the best at recalling accurate details.

In the future, maybe it’s best to stay gender neutral.

Holding it against her for the rest of the trip says way more about them than it does about her.

Sometimes even genuine apologies aren’t enough to mend someone else’s bruised ego.

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.