AITA...For telling my wife "I warned you" when our son got a lock for his room?
Simon, on the brink of adulthood, seeks the simple dignity of privacy—a knock before the door opens, a boundary respected in the sanctuary of his own room.
His pleas echo a deeper yearning: to be seen not as a child, but as a young man carving out his independence, deserving of trust and respect from those who love him most.
Caught in the collision of parental habits and teenage growth, his father steps in as mediator, trying to bridge the gap between a mother's protective instincts and a son's growing need for autonomy.
The struggle is raw and real, revealing the fragile balance between family closeness and individual space, where love must learn to honor change.
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Users Wasted No Time Telling It Like It Is:
The crowd poured into the comments, bringing a blend of heated opinions, solid advice, and a few reality checks along the way.
NTA.
The core conflict revolves around a 16-year-old son's need for privacy and boundary setting versus the mother's perception of family roles, where knocking seems excessive or insulting.
The father supported the son's request for a door lock after repeated boundary violations, leading to significant marital tension and accusations of undermining parental authority.
Is respecting the reasonable privacy requests of a nearly-adult teenager, such as knocking before entry, a necessary component of fostering independence, or does it fundamentally erode the necessary intimacy and authority within a parent-child relationship in a family home?