September 14, 2025 at 4:15 am

She Said It Was Weird That Her Friend’s Kids Call Her Much Younger Siblings “Uncles,” And Now The Family Is Upset With Her

by Heather Hall

A group of women friends hanging out and sharing stories

Pexels/Reddit

Some family traditions make perfect sense, but others leave outsiders scratching their heads.

So, what would you do if your friend’s parents insisted her kids call her much younger siblings “uncles,” even when the age difference made it confusing?

Would you keep your opinion to yourself?

Or would you let everyone know just how weird you think it is?

In the following story, one woman finds herself in this exact predicament and opts for the latter.

Here’s how it all played out.

AITA for telling my friend i find it weird how her parents insist on her kids to call her younger siblings “uncles”?

So, I (36 f) and a couple of other friends had a get-together over the weekend and shared weird family traditions, including traditions about each other’s families.

I mentioned that I find it weird that my friend “Katie” (34f) ‘s parents insist on her kids calling Katie’s younger siblings uncles.

To paint a full picture, Katie has three full siblings: “Anna” (30f), “George” (12m), and “Nick” (1yo). Katie herself has three children: Andrew(16m), a 10-year-old, and a 3-year-old, not to mention her nephews, who are 10 and 2.

Andrew and my daughter, “Emma,” go to the same school and are in the same class.

They had a task last year to write about their families, and the entire class, including the teacher, was confused about Andrew calling George and Nick his uncles due to the age difference.

Here’s where it gets even more strange.

Andrew said he usually refers to them as bros, but his grandma (Katie’s mum) throws a fit and demands that Andrew and any of her grandchildren refer to her younger kids as uncles and treat them as adults.

I have expressed how weird it is to Katie, encountering the times when she said she left her younger children with their uncle, and pointing out that neither of the said uncles is fit enough to look after another child.

The group, including Katie, agreed it is weird, however later each of us received a call from Katie’s mum blaming us that Katie and her sister are now refusing to leave their kids (her grandkids) with their uncles because we called it weird and that I am wrong for bringing it up being strange in the first place.

AITA?

Wow! This sounds like a very messed-up situation.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit think about this whole thing.

The story reminds this person of a show.

Uncles 3 She Said It Was Weird That Her Friend’s Kids Call Her Much Younger Siblings “Uncles,” And Now The Family Is Upset With Her

It’s true the story was a bit confusing.

Uncles 2 She Said It Was Weird That Her Friend’s Kids Call Her Much Younger Siblings “Uncles,” And Now The Family Is Upset With Her

Here’s someone who agrees with half of the issue.

Uncles 1 She Said It Was Weird That Her Friend’s Kids Call Her Much Younger Siblings “Uncles,” And Now The Family Is Upset With Her

This reader points out that they are the kids’ uncles.

Uncles She Said It Was Weird That Her Friend’s Kids Call Her Much Younger Siblings “Uncles,” And Now The Family Is Upset With Her

Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

But whether or not they should share it is another thing.

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.