Parenting disagreements can make partners feel more like opponents than teammates.

Imagine you’re working long hours from home while raising a high-energy five-year-old, and your spouse keeps questioning every choice you make. Would you just quietly go along with all of their rules? Or would you eventually snap and say something?

In the following story, one father finds himself in this exact situation, and the latter happened. Here’s how it played out.

AITA for the way I look after my son?

I told my wife today that she treats me like “the babysitter she doesn’t trust.”

We have a 5-year-old son who has way more energy than either of us. My wife puts a lot of effort into keeping him entertained, while I try to teach him to entertain himself by setting reasonable boundaries.

I work from home about 60 hours a week, so sometimes I’ll set him up with something and then get back to work.

He doesn’t see a problem with their son watching an occasional video.

He often hovers near me, and about once a week, I’ll watch a short YouTube video with him (planes, trains, trucks; typical 5-year-old stuff).

My wife has a strict no-screen policy, which I mostly agree with. I don’t believe in daily “screen time,” but I think the occasional YouTube video is harmless if he’s behaved and wants a short break with me while I’m working.

I also take him out a couple times a week for longer activities: hiking, swimming, football, etc.

Here’s where his wife made one too many comments.

My wife stays home full-time, so she spends many more hours with him and is understandably frustrated by how demanding he can be.

But when she gets home, she often asks, “What did you do with him today?” in a way that feels like a trap. She regularly asks if we watched videos.

Today I lost my temper. We hadn’t watched any videos, we worked on his behavior, and played a board game. But she kept pressing, and I snapped. I think I’ve been holding a lot in, and her questioning just broke through my calm.

Am I bad for the way I parent or for getting mad when I’m called out on it?

AITA?

Yikes! It’s easy to see both sides, but they must come to some sort of agreement.

Let’s see what advice the fine folks over at Reddit have to offer.

For this mother, it’s all about boundaries.

This wife did something similar to his wife.

According to this comment, he’s handling parenting well.

As this person points out, the boy should go to school soon.

They need to have a calm discussion. It seems like they share a common goal, so it’s all about finding middle ground.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.