Should a Dad Tell His Wife That Their Daughter Snuck Out of the House?

When you were a teen, you probably snuck out a few times against your parent’s wishes.

As a parent, you may be strict about this, or you may remember what it was like to be a kid yourself and cut your kid some slack. This dad seems to have done the latter.

A Redditor asks if he was right to keep his daughter’s secret sneaking out from his wife, who is much more strict than he is. His goal is ultimately to help his daughter whenever she needs it—he wants her always to know she has her dad to lean on. And when it comes to parenting, isn’t trust what it’s all about?

On this particular night, his daughter had gone to a party and needed help getting home.

On Sunday at around 3 a.m, I received a call from my 16 year old daughter Brittany saying that she snuck out of the house and needed me to pick her up.

She told me that she was a little drunk and that the friend who drove her left her behind and that more people were showing up at the party and she was uncomfortable.

I begrudgingly told her sure and to wait for me somewhere safe.

They had a heart-to-heart talk, and that’s when he decided not to tell his wife. She was safe, and that was all that mattered.

I picked her up and got fast food with her so we could have time to talk without waking up the house. I told her how disappointed I was and that what she did wasn’t fair to me since I have to work.

She profusely apologized and told me that she wouldn’t sneak out of the house again. However, she begged me not tell her Mom because she is ridiculously strict with types of things and I do sympathize with her as she is a teen so these types of things will happen no matter.

I also was afraid that if I told her Mom that she would never trust me again and feel like that could be dangerous in case she ever needed help (like now).

Unfortunately, his wife found out, and all hell broke loose.

So things were fine until Monday night when my wife saw a picture of the party on Instagram and Brittany was in it…….

My wife lost her mind and started to interrogate Brittany about what she was doing , who was there, etc . She got really mad at her and made Brittany cry and go to her room.

The problem though was that my wife asked how Brittany got there and back and she told the truth…. Now my wife is infuriated with me for not telling her.

She got even more mad when I told her why I didn’t. I said that I knew how she would react, that I didn’t want to break Brittany’s trust, and how protecting her safety (I want her to call me when she’s in those situations) was more important than us telling each other everything.

She stormed off too and we haven’t really spoken much since then.

AITA?

So what should he have done?

Redditors agreed it was a tough spot to be in.

Some people sided with his wife.

One person pointed out that the more a disciplinarian a parent is, the more a kid will act out.

He agreed with the dad that trust and her safety were the most important things of all.

A Redditor suggested telling his wife and coming up with a small punishment.

After all, she did go against their wishes.

Again, it’s not an easy decision to make, and there are two sides to this argument.

What would you do in this dad’s position? Should the daughter have a way to get home safely, even though she screwed up? Or should she just keep it from her parents?

Let us know in the comments below!