'A four-year-old girl was mean to my son so I got revenge on her - she deserved it'

Kids can sometimes be cruel to each other, and while it's often a part of growing up and testing boundaries, it's never easy for a parent to see their child upset. One mom decided to take action after witnessing a four-year-old girl bullying her son without provocation.

She took to Reddit to share her tale of petty revenge, revealing how she intentionally set up a situation where the little girl would get caught in the act. She posted: "I have a one-year-old son, and we decided to go to the playground one day. On this day, a bunch of kids were there, among whom was a bratty girl who had a mean streak to her ."

"My son, who didn't know better, went close to her and she just told him 'What are you doing here? You're not invited here! '. I agree I kind of didn't like my son being bullied, but I figured he doesn't understand these things yet and I didn't want to be one of those sensitive helicopter parents who shield their kids from everything."

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Instead of letting her son continue to be picked on, the mom said she picked him up and they went to play somewhere else. However, later on, she noticed the bully's grandmother and decided to enact some revenge.

She continued: "It seemed like she's not one of those loosey-goosey grandmas, so while the girl was close to her grandma, it dawned on me I could bait her to be mean to my kid in front of granny. So I placed my son close to her since I figured out he wouldn't understand anyway. And it worked."

The proud mom recounted: "The little girl told my son again, 'You're not welcome here! Go away! ' But this time her grandma heard, and she got in trouble. The grandma said they now will go home since she can't be nice. She fought it, but couldn't do anything - part of it I think granny just wanted to go home."

Netizens were quick to applaud the mother's protective instincts, flooding social media with their thoughts on the incident. One commenter praised: "You did her a semi-favour. You gave her the opportunity to display some behavior that an adult in her life should be correcting, and fortunately, grandma was up to the task."

Meanwhile, another supporter chimed in: "Nice job setting her up. She never saw it coming."

Yet, some felt the mother may have gone too far. A critic pointed out: "Guaranteed someone did that to her and she was spreading the joy to someone she thought was safe to say to. Children will imitate, they're very immature. I'm not saying your response was wrong, at least she knows now that it wasn't nice when it was done to her either."

And another added a different perspective: "Unpopular opinion here, but how will the girl know how to 'be nice' if the punishment is to just go home? Shouldn't you or the grandmother have been a more thoughtful parent? ".