Neighbor Insists Mom's Playdate Turkey Sandwiches Aren't Good Enough for Her Kids

Picture this: You're a busy parent taking care of your own family when a new neighbor moves in near your home. The easy thing to do would be to give a friendly wave and maybe head over to introduce yourself to their family, right?

But instead of taking the easy route, one mom decided to go out of her way: When she realized the new neighbor had a lot of unpacking to do, she offered to watch the neighbor's two sons so their mom could unpack in peace. If you've ever moved with children, you know this is a huge favor. But somehow, the mom who extended this kind offer found herself on the receiving end of her neighbor's anger.

And the reason for said anger? Turkey sandwiches. The mom shared more about the experience in a Reddit thread, and she's wondering if she's in the wrong in this situation.

"My daughter is fairly extroverted and immediately went outside to play with them. It was around noon at that time, so I started to make lunch. I made some turkey sandwiches with American cheese. A simple lunch that we always have," the original poster (OP) wrote of her experience. "I brought out some plates so that the kids could eat outside on our benches. The kids loved it and 30 minutes later the sandwiches were gone and they were back playing soccer and tag."

Sounds like a fun playdate for kids who are well on their way to becoming great neighbor-friends. Except the new neighbor had a major issue with what the OP fed the kids for lunch.

After picking up her sons and taking them home, the new neighbor went back to the OP's home and proceeded to "shout" at her.

"The following is some basic dialogue from what I can remember," the OP wrote. The new neighbor asked OP if she had fed the kids turkey and cheese sandwiches and when the OP said yes, she had, the new neighbor shouted at her: "Well that is NOT enough for my boys. They're growing boys, and they need to have GOOD food, and not whatever you gave them."

The OP describes shutting the door in the neighbor's face immediately after the outburst.

We could understand the frustration if the OP had served something they were allergic to or did not eat for religious or personal reasons. But no: It seems this parent was simply angry that their sons ate something they didn't deem "good enough" for them.

Strangely, some of the original poster's friends seemed to agree with the neighbor's take. "The lady got mad that I fed food to her sons for FREE, right? But as it turns out, three of my close friends told me that I was rude and I should have just given them something better," the OP wrote.

"We had mashed potatoes and some leftover pork that wouldn't take more than 29 minutes to heat up and serve, but I didn't feel like giving them that. I don't see the problem with what I did, but I trust my friends and I want to know if I should apologize."

Our take? No, the mom shouldn't have to apologize for what she fed the kids. After all, the new neighbor was more than willing to accept free babysitting and, according to this post, didn't appear to give any instructions or make any requests when it came to feeding. That said, perhaps it was a tad rude to shut a door in someone's face, although we can't say that we blame OP for the impulse.

Redditor u/gapeach2333 had an amusing take on sandwiches, writing, "I feel like an absurd number of people ate a turkey sandwich for lunch today and they're probably going to continue with their lives happily. No good deed goes unpunished I guess. Hope she doesn't ever need a neighbor to babysit in a jam."

"Interesting that the neighbour [sic] had left the children for several hours without worrying about what they were eating or if they were eating. OP could have sent them home at lunch time and told them to come back again after they'd eaten,"another added. "If neighbour [sic] is so precious about her children's meals, she could have stopped unpacking long enough to make a nutritionally balanced lunch that met her own standards."

Others wondered what the core issue really was for the neighbor. Redditor u/pnutbuttercups56 wrote, "I thought the issue was going to be allergy or religion related. I do think you should have confirmed with your neighbor about food because that could easily have become a disaster. That being said, I don't know why a turkey sandwich is bad or why your neighbor and friends think they needed something 'better.'"

After more than 1,000 comments, Reddit judged this mom as NTA, which stands for "Not The A**hole." Perhaps next time the new neighbor can pack a lunch for her kids.