Everyone fell silent after hearing the surprising news. Find out what happened next in the link below.
Dysfunctional families impact the well-being of every member, particularly the children. These unhealthy dynamics lead to long-lasting emotions like guilt, shame, and low self-esteem, as well as difficulties with forming attachments.
The teenager who posted her story on Reddit a while back comes from a family where the father is mostly not involved in his children's lives, even though they all live together.
She went on the Reddit thread AITA to share that her mother was the one who raised her and her siblings, as their father wasn't very involved in their upbringing.
When OP arrived home and placed his phone on the table, he saw a message that said, “Last night was great, looking forward to seeing you again” with some emojis.
She thought for a bit, then chose to inform her mom about her dad's infidelity. Her mom became upset, reassuring her not to fret and to focus on being a child while she handled the situation. Feeling guilty, she decided to drop the subject to avoid causing her mom more pain.
One night, the whole family came together for dinner at OP's grandpa's house. During the meal, her cousin announced that she had just started a new job. Everyone was happy for her, but then OP's dad said that she should be more like her cousin because she wasn't doing well in his opinion. He didn't stop there, and kept criticizing OP, telling her to concentrate more on school and other things.
He said OP didn't respect him, and that was the last straw.
OP reached a breaking point. “It's difficult to have respect for you when you openly betray Mom without even trying to conceal it,” she stated in front of everyone.
The room fell quiet at first, but then her father began shouting at both her and her mother. The mother then took her children and informed her husband that she wouldn't be coming back home.
When OP got home, she began getting text messages from her family members blaming her for ruining the evening and causing tension in the family. Despite this, her mom sympathized with her frustration and suggested that she should have handled the situation more privately, but acknowledged that what happened cannot be changed.
Redditors were quick to comment that OP was NTA.