Reel it in, wild child! These homeowners share how guests’ children destroyed their homes, terrorized their pets, and used wildly inappropriate language. The terrible twos aren’t just a phase anymore! Content has been edited for clarity.
“The Next Thing I Remembered Was Laying On The Floor With A Paramedic Above Me”
“A friend of my sister’s asked if she and her two children could stay at my house for a week so she could visit my sister. They lived a few hundred miles away and wanted to avoid the expense of a hotel.
The first night was fine, but when I woke up the next day, things had gone terribly wrong. I went to use my upstairs toilet only to find it completely blocked. Someone had shoved a whole roll of toilet paper in it! I went downstairs only to find the same had happened to the other toilet. There were also obvious signs one of the children went to the bathroom on the floor. My sister’s friend was still asleep and her two children were wrecking my house.
My bookshelves had been completely emptied and some of the pages had been ripped out of the books. Two of the sofa cushions had been torn open, and they were drawing on my painted floor with a black marker. I grabbed the markers from the children and woke their mother.
She moaned at me and said, ‘Don’t be angry. They’re just children playing.’
I stormed into the kitchen to get some gloves and cleaning materials. I was suddenly in immense pain, and the next thing I remembered was laying on the floor with a paramedic above me. The children had spilled an entire bottle of washer detergent onto the floor and I’d not noticed and slipped in it. I knocked myself out on the stove, broke my wrist, and landed flat on my back.
I ended up staying in hospital for four days. I needed surgery on my wrist and my sprained back was quite severe. I couldn’t stand up and had lost control of my bladder.
When my sister visited, I told her, ‘If your friend and her terrible children are still at my house, I am calling the police and reporting them for trespassing!’
Thankfully, they were gone when I arrived home. I had my house professionally cleaned and the floors repainted. A week later, I was given money to replace my sofa and the books which were wrecked. I was very surprised as this woman didn’t seem the type to pay for damage caused by her children. To my surprise, I found out a couple of months later it was actually my sister’s money and she’d almost emptied her savings account to pay for the mishap. Her friend never paid her back and I have never received an apology. I felt awful my sister had spent hundreds of bucks fixing her friends’ children’s mess. I tried to give her the money back but she refused.
The following year I went to visit some old school friends who lived in the same area my sister’s friend lived in. I found out she had told people I’d hit her children, kicked them out, and stole money from them. My friends knew I’d never do such a thing, but I received a lot of backlash from those who did believe it.
I have had other children in my house, and I’ve never been treated as disrespectfully as I was by those children and their mother. Their behavior was rude, destructive, and obnoxious. I haven’t let their behavior turn me against the idea of letting children in my house, but I am now very cautious when I do allow children over.”
Cookie Catastrophe
“This occurrence took place at an Australia Day party, as my husband still likes to partake in the festivities of his home country while living on the other side of the world.
We set out Australian goodies to eat, including Australia’s favorite cookie, Tim Tams. At this time, we were unable to find them in our region, so we had purchased a few packs on our last trip for this occasion. We only had enough cookies for each guest to have two, and we made it clear to all of our guests this was the case. One boy, aged ten, was fixated on these chocolate cookies. He asked his dad several times if he could eat one. His dad, despite being told two minutes prior there was only enough for each guest to have two, told his kid yes. He gave the boy two Tim Tams and then left the room. After a few minutes, my husband noticed the Tim Tams were quickly disappearing. I noticed the boy would hang around where the cookies were, and then suddenly disappeared.
Each time this happened, a handful of cookies were gone. I put the remaining cookies away when the boy had disappeared. When he returned, he noticed the cookies were missing.
He demanded, ‘Give me the rest of the cookies! I have only eaten one, and since you took them I deserve the rest! The rest of the food here is garbage anyway!’
His father heard him and did not respond.
I told the boy, ‘The cookies are gone. Nobody is getting any more.’
His father waited until I left the area to check on the other children, and gave his son a few more cookies to keep him happy. By this point, there were only enough cookies left for each guest to have half of one. Most guests politely declined.
In another area of the party, an eleven-year-old girl was snatching stuffed animals away from the other kids, holding them out, and dramatically stabbing them with long hat pins she brought from home.
She randomly blurted out creepy things like, ‘I’ll rip out all of your sister’s hair and make a wig out of it.’
The other kids were truly frightened of her.
Her mother said, ‘Oh, this is just how she acts. The other kids need to stop bullying her because she’s different.’
The mother then scolded the other kids for not being accepting of her monstrous child.
Neither of those families has ever attended another function at my house, and they never will.”
Broken Toys And Breaking Points
“There was a boy in my son’s class who was extremely disruptive. My son and his friends constantly complained about his behavior. He just seemed boisterous to me, and I worried he behaved this way because he was lonely and wanted friends. I took it upon myself to invite him to have dinner with us one day after school. The boys were about seven years old at this time.
The boy complained the entire time! He complained the chicken I served was dry and insisted the baked beans I made were off-brand. He made me physically show him the container of baked beans before he believed me.
He then proclaimed, ‘This food is disgusting! I am not eating it, and I want something different right now!’
I refused, and said, ‘This is the dinner we are eating tonight. I can give you fruit, cheese, and crackers instead.’
He swore constantly, even when I asked him not to do so. I explained we did not swear while in my household. He then proceeded to spit on me and call me a swear word.
Afterward, he went around the house and began to pick up ornaments.
He asked, ‘Can I take these home?’
I replied, ‘Absolutely not.’
After I told him no, he went into my son’s room and snapped the wooden swords he had in half. He also attempted to break several other toys.
I asked him, ‘Why are you breaking all of my son’s toys?’
He exclaimed, ‘He has way too many!’
By then, I started to lose my patience. I took the child home and ended the play date. My son was so relieved when the boy finally left, it broke my heart a little. At that point, I realized I should have listened to my son more and it was unfair to force the friendship. I never invited the child over again.”
Painting Predicaments
“My youngest daughter’s best friend was rather bossy and full of herself. They would have play dates most weeks and took turns deciding which house to play at.
The rule at the friend’s house was the guest got to choose what to play. This worked great, as my daughter wasn’t bossed around and had a good time.
Unfortunately, this meant when the friend was with us, she was a total nightmare. She would help herself to anything and everything. Unknown to me, on one occasion she decided she would do some glass painting from a kit. This child got black paint on the dining table and the floor in the dining room. She then proceeded to walk the paint onto the living room carpet.
As soon as I saw the mess I told her, ‘Stop painting for a little bit and let me clean up the mess.’
She looked me straight in the eye and replied, ‘I am the guest in the house and I can do whatever I want.’
I explained, ‘You can’t just make a mess and damage our home!’
The child laughed and remarked, ‘That’s not my problem.’
Her visits to our home were significantly reduced. Luckily, their friendship completely faded after she and my child transferred schools.”
“Get Out Of My Home”
“One time, I visited my husband’s colleague’s house in our neighborhood. I was not very interested in visiting, but my husband insisted I meet his colleague’s wife and talk with her. They were a small family and only had a three-year-old child.
I went to their apartment, and the mother greeted me and asked me to have a seat in their living room. We began to talk and ask about each other’s lives. After ten minutes, the mother got up and walked to the kitchen to get me a drink.
Their three-year-old daughter, who has been observing me very carefully for a while, came near me and sternly said, ‘Get out of my home!’
I was taken aback because no child in my life has ever spoken to me so rudely.
I tried to cheer up the moment and said, ‘What’s the problem? I am your aunt. Don’t you remember? We have met before.’
My words couldn’t comfort her and she shouted again, ‘Get off.’
I didn’t say anything else to the child and thought it would be better to stay quiet.
I didn’t leave the house, and the child became furious! She picked up her sandals, took an aim at me, and flung the shoes across the room. Thankfully, she missed her shot.
All this took place in such a short time and I couldn’t believe what happened.
Meanwhile, the mother overheard some of these harsh words uttered by her daughter and chided her in a mild tone, ‘Don’t talk to her in that manner. She is our guest. You shouldn’t say such things.’
The mother came back to the living room, took the daughter in her lap, and explained to me, ‘She becomes envious if I talk for too long with someone else. She spends all day with me. So, she cannot stand the fact I am paying my attention to someone else.’
I found it extremely strange.
Meanwhile, I wondered how my mother would have treated me had I done the same to a guest in my home.
After fifteen minutes, I hurriedly left their home. I never dared to step into their place again.”
The Fruit Fiasco
“When this story took place, we were a United States Army family living in Japan. A few weeks prior, we had just taken a trip to Korea. While there, my husband met another American who held the same job position. He and his wife seemed like a nice couple and had a cute little daughter who was six years old. They really wanted to see Japan, but because it was so expensive, they didn’t think they could afford the vacation. So, we invited them to spend the weekend with us in Japan.
When they arrived in Japan, their little girl turned out to be a total maniac. She screamed at her parents all day and was mean to our children. At one point, one of my children was eating an orange.
She asked me, ‘Can I have an orange too? And can you peel it for me?’
I replied, ‘Well of course dear!’
I peeled the orange and handed it to her on a paper plate. She picked up the orange, tore it into sections, squeezed them between her fingers, and dripped orange juice ‘guts’ all over my carpet and furniture.
I told her, ‘Hey, let’s try to be more careful when we are eating.’
Afterward, she began violently screaming at me. She threw the orange at my wall and smeared the mess in.
Her parents sat there totally unphased by her actions. I picked her up, took her to the sink, and washed the orange off her hands.
When she was finally clean, I put her in a chair and said, ‘You are in time out. DON’T MOVE.’
She obviously wasn’t familiar with being disciplined because she sat there totally silent staring at her parents. The parents said absolutely nothing, but within an hour they said they had booked weekend reservations at a hotel in Japan. Do you mean we don’t get to share the rest of our weekend with you and your little darling?
We never saw or heard from them again!”
The Terrible Twos
“Two friends from college asked to visit me since they haven’t seen me in a while. A lot had changed since the last time I saw them. I got married, had a baby, and even bought a new house.
One of the friends asked, ‘Can I bring my son with me when I visit? I can’t find a babysitter, and I can just have him eat dinner at your house.’
Her little boy was only two years old, and I was happy to oblige.
They came to my house with a full bag of toys for the child to play with. I was relieved, as I didn’t have any toddler toys available for the child.
She had forgotten his bowl and cutlery for dinner. She could certainly use mine, but I was concerned about the safety of a toddler using an adult fork. My friend insisted he used adult cutlery all the time at home, plus he was well-mannered. Well-mannered was optimistic at best. He aggressively banged my dishes with his fork, so aggressively in fact, it scratched and cracked the dish. I couldn’t blame him, he was a toddler and didn’t understand he was damaging the plate. However, neither his mom nor the other friend stopped him. They simply laughed and joked about the situation.
After he had eaten, he wanted to play with his toys. That’s fine. Again, he’s a toddler, so I expected toys scattered around my house. What I didn’t expect was for my friend to essentially ignore her child all night as he destroyed the place. He had climbed up to a ledge where I kept my papers and some makeup and destroyed everything. Letters were strewn throughout my hallway and in the kitchen. My makeup had bite marks through the bottles, and the makeup inside the packaging was shattered and ruined.
He found my shopping bag from earlier in the day with my baby’s brand new clothes in it. The contents in the bag were thrown everywhere and stepped on.
I was appalled. The whole time I cleaned up, neither of my friends said a word about what he had done. They ignored the situation while they carried on with their conversation. I don’t think they realized I left the room to clean up after the child.
The height of the issue started when my friend, his mother, left the room. He immediately screamed and destroyed my living room, but this time out of anger. DVDs were ripped off the shelves and cushions were pulled off my sofa and thrown across the room. He finally resorted to banging his head with full force against my living room door. I was shocked he didn’t knock himself out!
My other friend simply sighed and half-heartedly said ‘Hey, stop it.’
She knew full and well he was going to ignore her. I had to intervene before he seriously hurt himself.
When his mother returned and I commented on his behavior, she just laughed and said, ‘Yeah, I just learned it’s best to ignore him. You will learn when your little one gets older.’
While I was shocked at his behavior, I was more irritated at my friend for not teaching him restraint. It was clear he lived with zero discipline. This probably isn’t the worst thing a child has done in someone’s home, but it’s the worst for me.
It’s safe to say, I’ve never invited them around again!”
“Your Mother Is A Hag”
“I previously lived next to some neighbors who had two children. There was one boy and one girl, and they were both very troubled. Against my instincts, I agreed to watch the daughter, age seven, while her parents took their son, age nine, to his psychiatrist appointment.
The girl and my son, who was only a few years younger, were playing with some sticky toys upstairs. I told them if they wanted to play with those toys, they could do so in the basement. There was no reason they couldn’t play in the basement, as it was finished and comfortable. Soon after, they went downstairs.
Then I heard the girl say to my son, ‘Your mother is a hag!’
My son mumbled something in response.
‘I hate her so much!’ the girl insisted.
I had enough!
I stomped down the stairs and told the girl, ‘You aren’t welcome to stay in my home if you are going to insult me to my son!’
She became angry, so I threw her out of the house. I called her parents and told them their daughter would wait for them outside until they came to pick her up.
If I had heard my child had spoken about another adult in this manner, you can bet they would be shoveling snow, cleaning toilets, and groveling to the adult. I never got so much as an apology from the girl or her parents. A few months later, the mother made a comment about sending her daughter off to school in Switzerland to learn some manners.”
Party Foul
“We had a nice, outdoor engagement party for our daughter. There was food and drink set up, tables, and music. About one hundred and fifty people came to honor our daughter and her fiance.
I had not told anyone this was an ‘adults only’ party, as my grandchildren would be there too.
There was a group of kids (and our grandkids) playing outside the house. We have a small dog who is very friendly and well-behaved. Ordinarily, we would put the dog in the utility room for an event like this, but all of the kids were playing and having a good time so we let him out. The dog loved kids and people, and usually, they loved him. The dog came out wagging his tail, ready to be petted. Many guests rubbed his head and patted his back. The dog was loving it! Then, one rotten little boy decided to terrorize our pet and began to scream and chased him with a stick. I had to drag our dog out of the bush where he was hiding. The parents just stood around and continued to drink and chat.
Another little girl in the group wandered into our home where the party was not being held. This little girl had opened all of our drawers and was digging through our possessions and my jewelry. I took the child outside to her parents who barely acknowledged the child had done anything wrong.
I cannot imagine allowing my kid to behave in the manner which they did at my home.”
The Nail Polish Nuisance
“We had about thirty-five people over for Christmas lunch this year. We had just gotten a brand new carpet in our living room. My niece received a nail polish set for Christmas and opened it in the living room. Her parents were sitting right next to her and didn’t even bother telling her not to open the gift in the living room. Well, she spilled nail polish all over the carpet and didn’t have one care in the world. The little brat! Then, my father-in-law started rubbing the nail polish into the carpet with a tissue. How could he be so clueless?
I walked by and yelled, ‘Stop it right now!’
I tried getting the stain out with nail polish remover and carpet spray, but there is still a faint spot. It made me so angry! Every time the niece visits, something gets broken or damaged! The funny part is, that my niece’s parents are extremely wealthy. They didn’t even offer to have the carpet professionally cleaned!”
Dining Room Dispute
“My daughter would have birthday parties and sleepovers every year at our house or the park. I always served breakfast in the morning afterward and then the girls would go home. One year after they left, I was cleaning off the dining room table and noticed something strange. One girl carved her name on the table! I couldn’t believe it! I knew the girl came from a troubled home, so I never said anything to the mom.
Another time, my daughter had a friend over to play with her Barbie dolls. When the friend left, I started cleaning up and noticed Barbie’s hair scattered around the room. It turned out the girl cut the hair of every Barbie my daughter owned. The mess was beyond awful. Again, this family also had a lot of problems. The mom was trying to support herself and four kids, so I never said a word to her about what happened.”
