Man posts pics with baby brother in matching outfits; stepmom threatens to sue him.
When this older brother is upset with his brother's mom, he asks Reddit:
'AITA for refusing to delete my photos with my baby brother?'
I (19M) have a baby brother named Ian (4M) that I just love. He's my guy, I thought kids were noisy, but Ian is my star in the sky.
He's my half-brother (My dad (45M) married his wife(30F) six years ago and had my brother) but I don't really care, I'm always buying us matching shit; shirts, pants, sneakers, caps, it doesn't matter, my dad is actually in love with this and it's always taking pictures of us.
I, like any normal guy, have 2 Instagram, one for family and close friends and the other for fun, my personal IG is private and I have like 30 followers and I follow like 40 people because as I said, it's private.
Whenever I take a photo with Ian (mostly when we are matching), I post it there. Both my dad and his wife follow that IG and knows I post Ian there, my dad has no problem and I thought his wife didn't too, tbh she's not really a social media gal and I rarely see her on her phone.
I guess it was one of those times when she just checked and saw a pic of Ian and me on her feed.
The next time I went to visit my dad, she pulled me aside (with my dad there) and said that what I've been doing is disrespectful because I should've asked for their permission to expose their kid on social media and she demanded I delete all of the photos because Ian isn't someone I should be ''showing off'' as a trophy.
I was honestly appalled, and my dad was too, because I've never given the impression that I see my brother like that and that I truly love him.
I apologized, but said that her comment was rude because she doesn't get project her feelings onto mine.
My dad said I don't have to delete the pics since all of them are harmless, but she said I was an AH and that as Ian's mother, she gets to determinate those things and that I could either delete them or she could sue me.
My gf agrees with her, because ''a mom knows best'', so I'm not sure. AITA?
Let's see what Reddit had to say.
miyukikim writes:
ESH. Her comment about you thinking he's a trophy was wrong but she is his mother and if she's not comfortable with her son's pictures being on social media, you should respect her wishes. You can keep the photos but delete them from Insta.
ETA - I've gotten a number of replies about the dad being ok with it as if that nullifies the mother's objection. It doesn't. I believe that both parents need to be ok with it and if one isn't, it's a no.
parsimonioussald writes:
NTA. It's a private account. And if you were female I bet she wouldn't have a problem with how close you are with him. Have your dad talk to her (and you have his permission - he's a parent too).
clairecarey writes:
NAH. You want to show off your brother; your stepmom is concerned with having her child’s face posted anywhere on the internet where she didn’t consent.
Here’s the thing: if you don’t delete the pictures, it’s pretty much guaranteed your stepmom will start limiting and/or supervising your time with your brother.
She’s his mom and she has that right; you’ve made it clear you won’t follow her rules. So what’s more important to you: your time with your brother, or the “likes” your photos get on IG?