When Jason* saw a children’s play set for sale online, he knew it would be the perfect gift for his three-year-old son Samuel*.
Living in a neighborhood with a large backyard, he figured it would be a great place for his child to play and run around.
But their backyard also has its quirks; with no barriers or fencing to the surrounding gardens, others can easily access someone’s backyard.
His neighbor, Robert*, has four kids of his own, so Jason figured it would be a nice opportunity for them to play with his son.
“You guys are welcome to come use it whenever,” he told his neighbor, per Reddit.
This was in an effort to be “friendly and neighborly,” Jason said.
However, it turns out he didn’t actually mean it.
A few days passed, and Jason was playing outside with his son when his neighbor and four kids rushed to the playset.
The adults were talking as the kids ran around the playset and enjoyed themselves,.
Everything was perfect.
Soon after, Jason and his son went back inside their house.
“When it was time for us to go in, we said our goodbyes and walked in,” he said.
Robert and his four kids, on the other hand, stayed behind and continued playing in the backyard for a further 30 minutes before returning to their own home.
All was well, until one Sunday morning when Jason invited his relatives over to the house for lunch.
Looking out the window, “We saw the neighbor’s kids run over and start playing on the play set.”
“Our son also noticed this and pleaded to go out to play, instead of spending time with the relatives.”
That was the last straw for Jason; his promise to allow Robert’s kids to play on the playset had been rescinded.
“I texted the neighbor and asked that he retrieve his kids and to ask permission before sending his kids over to play,” he said.
Dad was accused of performing a “superficial act of kindness”
The Reddit community was baffled by Jason’s sudden backflip, and argued he probably “didn’t really mean it in the first place.”
“You’re flip-flopping for no good reason, and using this paper-thin nonsense as justification,” someone wrote.
“It would be one thing if they were taking advantage of your generosity: being noisy, breaking things, using the equipment at inappropriate times. But none of that happened here.”
Others accused Jason of using a “superficial act of kindness” to benefit himself.
“I very much get the sense that when you said, ‘They can use it anytime’, what you meant was, ‘Please don’t, I’m just making nice,’” read a comment.
Those who understood Jason’s perspective offered helpful advice for the father.
“It’s fine to have boundaries, but make them CLEAR,” someone suggested.
“A reasonable thing to say is, ‘I don’t want them there when someone’s not around to supervise them in case they get hurt,’” advised another.
“I think that might be kind of a good rule that you should’ve set out in the beginning.”
*Names have been changed
