Teen Asks If He’s Wrong For Refusing To Visit Mom’s ‘New Family’ After She Cheated On His Dad
She keeps leaving him out.
Manuela Durson / Shutterstock A teenager on Reddit is looking for advice after telling his mother that he no longer wants to see her.
The 17-year-old posted about his experiences on the subreddit r/AmItheA–hole, a forum for users to share their moral dilemmas with an audience of millions.
Readers can then vote on whether the original poster was in the right by voting “Not the A–hole” (NTA), in the wrong by voting “You’re the A–hole” (YTA).
His mother had an affair and left his father when he was 9.
Following the incident, his father gained primary custody, with his mother having him on weekends. Both his mother and her new partner treated him well, despite the messy separation of his parents.
Problems began to arise when he noticed that his mother seemed to be showing favoritism to her three new stepchildren, doing acts for them that she never did for him.
He specifically notes how she picked them up for school and how she actively celebrated their birthdays, rather than just being a guest like she was at his. He also said she doesn’t pay attention to him when it is not her custodial time.
He then recalls a swimming competition that she chose not to attend because her new family was more pressing to her.
“It was at school but she didn’t show up because it was on Wednesday and her stepdaughter had an activity at school,” he wrote. “She tried to compensate for it later but the scar was left there.”
He now says that staying with his mother is harming his well-being, and it hurts that the new family has his mother all of the time while he only has her on weekends.
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“It sucks seeing them play the happy family and even if her husband has treated me good, I see nothing but the man that destroyed my home and hurt my dad,” he wrote.
He told his mother that he isn’t coming back.
Not only did he tell her he wouldn’t be living with her anymore, but he added that he doesn’t want a relationship with her at all because he believes she’ll choose her new family and hurt him again.
The mother was distraught to hear her son tell her this and tried to change his mind, but he remained firm in his choice. She has called him every day since and pleaded with him, while her family is berating him for making her feel this pain.
Readers overwhelmingly sided with him and voted him as NTA. Commenters commended how he handled the situation while also bashing his mother and her family for their favoritism.
“You are handling this hurt in a very mature way, kudos for that,” one commenter said.
“When she suddenly realized you were cutting ties to her because of her behavior, that's when she suddenly decided that you're her baby and she never meant to treat you that way. Did she never realize how shunned you'd feel if she didn't show up to so many of your life events?”
Jonathan Alfano is a writer who focuses on news and entertainment topics. Follow him on Twitter to keep up with his content.