A dad has fallen sour with the residents in his local neighbourhood after "screaming" at his neighbour's four-year-old toddler.
While he admits that he "rudely" acted within the moment, the parent has defended his reason for losing his temper with the child and making them cry.
Taking to popular forum site Reddit, the anonymous user claimed that the young boy has been "bullying" his kids - and he was tired of dealing with it.
He wrote: "Am I the a**hole for screaming at my neighbour's toddler? I have recently moved into a new neighbourhood with my wife and our two kids (three-year-old boy and five-year-old girl)."
The man went on: "The house was a great buy, and the neighbours have been, in general, very friendly. Since we moved in, however, my neighbour's son (four-year-old boy) has been bullying my kids.
"When we first moved into the neighbourhood, my son started hanging out with him, since they were around the same age. Even since they first met, I had a bad feeling about this kid.
"I heard some bad things from other parents about him being rude or downright mean to their children. Some of the children he had supposedly bullied were as old as ten. Reminder, this kid is four.
"The bullying against my children really started after my son was eating some cookies my wife had given him and didn't share any with the kid. He threw a little fit and demanded his parents also give him cookies. After that, he made an enemy of my son.
"He would steal my daughter's dolls. He would tear up our flowers. It came to a point where we had to install a lock on my gate to keep him out of our things.
"The day this incident happened, the kid climbed over our fence to get into our yard and wreak havoc. My daughter was playing in the yard, so I went out there to tell him to get lost. When I came outside, he started cussing me out. You wouldn't believe the language this kid was using.
"I lost my temper with this kid and started to shout at him. Looking back, it was pretty rude. I really shouldn't have, but it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. He began to cry, but he went home."
The man added: "Since then, the other parents in the neighbourhood have been telling me I need to apologise. His parents won’t even talk to me, they're so mad. So, am I the a**hole?"
Since sharing his concerns online, the man's post has raked in over 600 comments - where Reddit users defended the father's reaction.
One person wrote: "I definitely understand why the original poster reacted the way they did."
"I will make anyone cry that bullies my child. I stand with this man wholeheartedly," a second person agreed. "Lesson well learned, I bet he leaves your property and kids alone now."
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