Being a single parent, especially when you have opposite-gendered children, can be a trial in patience and perseverance. Situations arise that make it more difficult, especially where the public is concerned.
Redditor @singledadwoes ran into such a situation when taking his youngest daughter shopping.
Here’s the Story
OP is a single dad of three. Recently his former in-laws sent him some money for his daughter’s birthday. She turned six and is his youngest. He decided to take her shopping at some of her favorite stores to spend her money and get her some things she wanted.
This dad isn’t unaware of the gawking and suspicious stares he gets when he’s out with his children. When they got to the outlet stores, his daughter needed to use the bathroom, and the family restroom was occupied.
He told her to use the women’s bathroom and stood outside to wait for her.
OP insists he stood so he couldn’t see into the bathroom when the door opened, but close enough that he’d be right there when his daughter came out.
While he was waiting, he noticed a woman come over and give him an odd stare. Eventually, she asked him why he was waiting outside the women’s restroom.
He explained that his daughter was using the bathroom, and he was waiting for her to finish.
The woman offered to go in and watch for his daughter, but he declined.
OP says he’s had one too many negative experiences with people who said they’d look out for his children only to try and get them to admit that he was kidnapping them.
He’s also run into people trying to ‘sneak’ his kids to safety, and although he knows people generally mean well, those situations are exhausting.
The woman wouldn’t relent and continued to ask him intrusive questions about his daughter. She asked where his daughter’s mother was, his daughter’s name, and what she looked like and continued berating him.
Finally fed up with the woman’s continuous interrogation, OP says loudly, “Lady, stop trying to creep on my kid in the restrooms!”
OP says it got the woman to leave him alone, and she left.
His daughter came out of the bathroom. They finished up her shopping trip and eventually picked up his other two kids.
Later on, OP aired his frustrations to his parents, and while his dad ‘got a kick out of it,’ his mother said he should have “just answered the woman’s question,” as she was “just trying to look out for his daughter.”
Now, OP wants to know if he’s TA for calling the woman out so loudly.
Here’s What Reddit Thinks
@LetsGetThisPartyOn thinks OP is NTA and that his first answer was the only one he needed to give.
“NTA. Fathers are parents too! And taking little girls in to a men’s room with urinals is not a good choice! She asked why you were ‘hanging outside a ladies toilet.’ You answered. Once. That was enough!”
User @Motomus agrees that OP definitely isn’t TA here. “You’re NTA, if anything it’s that lady that’s being a pervert, you’re just waiting for your kid.”
Redditor @pokedabear90 can totally relate to OP in this situation. “I’ve had to take my daughter into the men’s room before as well, and the same exact experience. NTA at all. This is an all too frequent occurrence for dads with their daughters.”
In the End
Being a single parent can present tricky situations that, while relatively common, can make for some uncomfortable experiences and conversations. Do you think OP was in the right to call out the woman who was so forward in questioning him?
