The economy is broken right now, and it’s tough for people wanting to get on the housing ladder.

And that has a knock-on effect for those who are already homeowners too – and one additional consequence is the fact that many parents are still housing their adult children under their roofs, many of them rent-free.

For most parents this is no burden at all, since they just want to help their kids out in whatever way they can – and the mom in this story is no exception.

But having three young adults under her one roof is causing friction, and she’s about to get wholly on the wrong side of it.

Read on to find out what happened.

AITA for how I handled this situation?

My daughter (24, female) is on antidepressants and lives at home rent-free while saving for her own place.

She keeps her pills in her bathroom with the lid loose because it’s hard to open, and since she’s the only one using it, it’s never been a problem.

My son (23, male) and his girlfriend (22, female) are temporarily staying with us until their condo is ready.

Their bathroom sink downstairs is small with no counterspace, so when the girlfriend wanted to dye her hair, I told her to use my daughter’s bathroom (as she has a double sink with countertops) without checking with my daughter, who was home in her room.

But this seemingly insignificant action was the beginning of a whole load of drama.

About an hour later, I overheard my son telling his girlfriend he didn’t know how to break something to his sister.

He finally told me his girlfriend had accidentally knocked over my daughter’s pills and some fell into the sink where she was dying her hair.

I said I’d talk to my daughter, but my son insisted.

I heard him enter her room with an attitude, saying, “Don’t start acting like an ***, but [girlfriend] knocked your pills into the sink.”

Uh-oh. Let’s see how her daughter reacted.

My daughter was furious, grabbed the remaining pills, and stormed off.

My son blamed her for leaving the lid loose. When she asked why they were even in her bathroom, I explained, and she got angrier, saying they could have used theirs or mine.

I told her I hadn’t expected this, and she needed to calm down.

She called my son an ******* and shut herself in her room.

Let’s see how this mom tried to mediate the situation.

I urged my son and his girlfriend to apologize – her because she should have asked to move the pills, and him because he escalated the situation. He eventually cooled down and apologized, but his girlfriend refused.

My son then demanded my daughter apologize to his girlfriend. My daughter refused, saying she had nothing to be sorry for.

The girlfriend chose to stay elsewhere until their condo is ready. My daughter spoke with her psychiatrist, and replaced her medication.

But the situation is still causing friction in the family.

My son still insists I should make my daughter apologize.

I did tell my daughter she could have reacted more calmly, but she maintains that they should have asked her to move the pills or at least approached her without assuming she’d “go crazy.”

She also points out she never said anything to the girlfriend, only her brother, and that I never should have let them use her bathroom in the first place.

Have I completely mishandled this?

AITA?

There is a lot of tension here, and a lot of it is probably the results of too many adults, each without proper respect for one another, trying to coexist under one roof.

Should the girlfriend have asked before using the sister’s bathroom to dye her hair, even though the mom had permitted it? Yes.

Should the girlfriend have apologized about the pills? Should the brother have apologized for escalating the situation? Yes.

Should the mom have generally done better? Yes.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit had to say about this.

This person agreed that the mom’s disregard for the daughter’s boundaries was the catalyst that caused this whole drama.

While others thought that there was only one blameless party here.

Meanwhile, others called out the brother’s attitude toward his sister.

There is only one person who was truly wronged here, and that’s the sister – but no one inside the house seems to be able to see it!

Not only did she have her personal space invaded and her vital medication ruined, the only apology she received was insincere and her mother was forcing her to apologize for being upset.

It’s all completely unfair, and with no regard for her feelings.

She’s the victim here, and no one is standing up for her.

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.