AITA: Jokingly 'Badmouthed' My Unborn Baby

It's safe to say that not everyone shares our own sense of humour.

For some parents with a darker, more sardonic sense of humour, they may sometimes experience harsh judgement and criticism for jokingly 'badmouthing' their children even when it's blatantly in a humourous and warm way - a recent TikTok showing a mum serving up alphabet potatoes arranged to declare 'you piss me off' to her toddler (who cannot read) is a great testimonial to that!

One expectant mum took to the Reddit AITA (am I the asshole) board to ask, is she the asshole for 'badmouthing' her unborn baby boy?

aita-badmouthing

Find the full thread here - credit to Reddit.

What was the general consensus?

The vast majority of Reddit readers voted that the mama-to-be is definitely NTA (not the asshole)! Some comments pointed out that depending on the person, it can be a type of 'endearment' rather than used in an abusive or insulting way - but conceded that some people do find this offensive. Even so, it was also pointed out that it was absolutely none of the other woman's business to comment on. The top rated comment was...

"NTA. Anyone who says they didn’t call their unborn child a name at least once, or cuss at them, is lying. This was really none of her business anyway."

Another popular comment that we just HAVE to share was...

"NTA. That lady is ridiculous lol

I mean, don't call your grown child a lazy motherfucker when he can understand you. I think that's common sense. But as of right now who cares?"

Our verdict...

We're fully on team 'NTA' here, but we can also consider the fact that what one person takes as humour, another person simply may not. It's a minefield, and when babies are involved, it can be an even more sensitive topic. Should the other woman have confronted the mama-to-be? We don't think so.

Obviously we weren't there in-person to witness the situation that unfolded, but the expectant mum sounds like she is excited and happy to be pregnant, engages with the movements of her unborn son and actively bonds with him, and we can't imagine that she'd have appeared to be anything other than 'having a laugh' when she used profanity jokingly. In this case, it does appear that the confronting woman needs to learn how to 'read a room'. We're not saying that it's wrong to not find something funny - it's absolutely fine to have a totally different sense of humour to other people - but context is key!

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