A dad has sparked controversy after planning to punish his daughter for 'cheating' on her playground boyfriend.
The youngster, aged seven, upset her crush after holding hands with another child. Now, her dad thinks she should be punished and taught about 'faithfulness'.
However, the little girl's mum refused and disagreed with his reasoning, as did stunned commenters when she revealed what had happened online.
Posting to Reddit for advice, the mum explained that her daughter, Layla, started dating a boy named Lucas a few months ago. "They are both 7, so it's obviously not a real relationship," she pointed out.
"They just hold hands sometimes and they drew each other hearts for valentines day."
But trouble arose when the schoolgirl had a change of heart. "This week, Layla was apparently holding hands with another boy - who also sent Layla a valentine's day love letter - and Lucas took offence to it. We found out because Lucas' parents called to tell us Lucas won't be coming over to us this Saturday like it was originally planned, because he is mad at Layla," her mum explained.
She continued: "My husband wants us to punish Layla and wants me to have a talk with her about faithfulness. At first I thought he was joking, but no, he was serious. He says that Layla cheated on Lucas and I, as her mother, should do something about it."
However, the mum defended her little girl. "I told my husband that Layla is 7, not a cheater and I won't treat her as such. He then accused me of 'raising a cheater' and encouraging the bad behaviour," she wrote.
As such, she asked Reddit users if she was in the wrong for not punishing her daughter, and commenters rushed to reassure her she'd made the right decision.
One person replied: "A seven year old isn't engaging in actually serious relationships, they come and go day by day. Your husband is insane for thinking she should be punished for this. Like actually insane."
A second agreed: "How would she even understand this punishment or talk? She's 7 not 17! Your husband is ridiculous to think that a young child will be able to process this information."
Meanwhile, someone else suggested: "You could, without punishment, have a conversation about how our actions have consequences and can hurt our friends' feelings. Wouldn't say boyfriends. Wouldn't ever use the word unfaithful. That stuff is crazy talk at this point."
A different commenter thought: "She's 7. It's ridiculous to call her a 'cheater'.
"At the same time, you can sit her down and explain why Lucas is upset and doesn't want to see her. That's more than enough of a lesson."
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