Dad Applauded For Ruining Couple's Honeymoon After Their Son Made Inappropriate Comments About His 13-Yr-Old Daughter
The kid made his daughter deeply embarrassed about her body, and he wasn't about to let it slide.
SpeedKingz / Shutterstock.com A dad on Reddit is being applauded for ruining a couple's honeymoon after their son made suggestive comments about his 13-year-old daughter.
The dad ruined his friends' honeymoon after their son made inappropriate comments about his daughter's body.
In his Reddit post, the dad wrote that he was recently taking care of his dear friend's nearly 17-year-old son while he and his new wife took their honeymoon in New York City because they have no family in Louisiana, where they live.
The man has known the boy since he was five, and he never dreamed it would cause a problem with his 13-year-old daughter. But that proved to be a major miscalculation, and the visit ended with the boy and his parents learning a lesson about commenting on people's bodies and appearance — especially when the person in question is still just a child.
On day three of his stay, the boy commented on the daughter's breasts and lips.
"The third day of their 10-day honeymoon," the dad wrote, "I heard him and my daughter talking and he goes on to say 'you must be popular with the boys, you have really nice boobs and lips."
His daughter was, of course, deeply uncomfortable and fled the room in tears.
"I go in the kitchen and asked him why would he say that to my child, she’s a child," the dad wrote. "He said he was just kidding."
Photo: fizkes / Shutterstock
Perhaps it was a joke, but it was still wildly inappropriate. Worse still, the dad said that his daughter had been dealing with bullying at school because she had started developing earlier than her peers.
"She gets these comments at school and it really brings her down to where she covers herself up," the dad wrote. "She is in therapy for it."
Early puberty can be deeply traumatizing for girls, in part because of comments like this boy's.
This man's daughter is certainly not alone. Puberty is awkward and at times traumatic for virtually every kid.
But psychological studies have shown that it is vastly more so for girls, because according to Cornell psychologist Dr. Jane Mendle, "it changes how they think about themselves and how people relate to them socially."
Photo: Antonio Guillem / Shutterstock
Girls often find themselves suddenly becoming sex objects out of nowhere and fielding leering comments and scrutiny like this boy's long before they're prepared to handle such attention (which they shouldn't have to handle at any age in the first place).
Studies have shown this is deeply traumatizing. Early puberty in girls is correlated with higher rates of mental illnesses like depression and substance abuse.
The dad had no tolerance for the boy's comments and demanded his parents come get him, even if it ruined their honeymoon.
After the boy made the comments, the dad immediately sent him to his room and called his father.
"I… tell him what happened and he says 'he’s Just kidding, he’s a teenager.' I tell him he will not stay in my house after the comments he made towards my child and he needs to come home and get him."
The friend pleaded with him to not ruin their New York honeymoon, but the dad stood his ground. He gave his friend an ultimatum, telling them, "they can drive back and get him or they call family to come get him because I don’t want him here for 7 more days."
His hardline stance may perhaps be a bit harsh, but Redditors felt his protection of his daughter was far more important than enabling the kid and his father's obvious "boys will be boys" attitude. It's hard to argue with them.
"Awesome, well done," one Redditor wrote. "This is the way to protect your daughter." Another firmly agreed, adding, "And if she were 16, or 18, or 27, she still deserves to feel safe in her home."
People have to learn how to respect people's bodies and boundaries one way or another, and if for some it has to be the hard way? Well, so be it.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.