How would you react if your spouse tried to tell you not to hang out with one of your friends because they’re a bad influence? Would you listen to their reasoning, or would you shut them down and point out that you don’t like all of their friends either?

In today’s story, one woman really dislikes one of her husband’s friends. She’s wondering if she messed up by telling him not to hang out with his friend.

Let’s read the whole story to decide.

AITA for telling my husband I don’t want him spending so much time with his friend anymore?

I (40F) have been married to my husband (40M) for 12 years. We have two kids (ages 8 and 12), and overall, our family life is pretty great.

However, there’s one issue that’s been bothering me for a while now, and I only recently expressed it to my husband.

My husband’s friend, Mark, recently moved to our city and lives nearby. They probably haven’t seen each other in almost a decade. They were close friends in college, but after graduating they went their separate ways and didn’t speak much.

I’ve only recently gotten to know Mark, and I have only met him a few times with my husband.

Mark is the problem.

Here is the best way I can describe Mark.

He is the same age as us, but acts as if he is still in college.

He’s loud, brash, and has this “I’m living the dream” attitude that’s way too self absorbed for my liking.

He’s also a showoff.

He works in finance and is financially successful, which he loves to remind everyone about.

He drives a flashy car, wears expensive clothes, and assumes he’s what everyone dreams to be.

Essentially, he’s like a “finance bro” who has freshly graduated college, except 40 years old.

Mark isn’t exactly a family man; although, he has kids.

Another thing is, he’s been divorced twice.

Not that going through a divorce is an issue. According to Mark, both marriages ended because of “irreconcilable differences,” but honestly, it feels like Mark just doesn’t take relationships seriously.

Mark has kids as well, son and a daughter.

He talks about his daughter a lot, but it’s mostly complaints about how she’s “becoming more like her mom” (his ex-wife). He says it in a way that makes it sound like a bad thing, as if the mom has somehow “ruined” her.

Her husband is different after hanging out with Mark.

Mark has never disrespected me directly (he barely spoke to me), but it’s the overall vibe he gives off that bothers me.

My husband’s behavior hasn’t changed since meeting him, but a lot of times when my husband comes home, he has this carefree attitude, as if Mark has brought the “youth” out in him.

Sometimes I feel like it’s a version of him that I have never met.

There is no issue doing this once in a while, but my husband meets Mark easily 3-4 times a month.

She told her husband how she feels.

Eventually, I expressed my concern to my husband.

I told him I really don’t like how often they go out drinking, and that Mark seems very immature. I just don’t want my husband picking up traits from him.

My husband responded by saying how he also doesn’t like my friend Claire, but doesn’t complain about me hanging out with her.

Apart from Claire being blunt and opinionated, she isn’t a bad influence and is also married with 3 kids.

I don’t want to make it seem like I’m trying to control who my husband hangs out with, but his friend Mark is just not a good influence at all.

As long as her husband doesn’t change to be more like Mark, than I don’t see a problem with him hanging out with him.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

Claire may be just as annoying as Mark.

Is it a problem that her husband is happy?

It doesn’t seem like his friend is causing any problems.

She should stop acting like his mother.

She’s making a problem where a problem doesn’t exist.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.