Teen Cuts Dad from Life After Final Straw Ahead of Graduation

In the story, posted to Reddit’s anonymous AITA (Am I the A-hole?) forum, the OP (a.k.a. the “original poster”) claimed his dad brushed off plans to attend the ceremony in lieu of an event for his stepdaughter — sparking a family crisis in the process.

Read on to see how it all went down — and how Redditors reacted to the story.

“I’m (18m) graduating high school at the end of this month. My dad dropped the bomb on me two nights ago that his stepdaughter (14f) has an award ceremony for some competition she entered and won in another state on that same day and that she really wants him to be there,” the teen began his post.

“He told me he couldn’t possibly make it to both and since his wife and their children together will be going, he needs to be there too. He told me he would make it up to me and we could celebrate another time,” added OP.

Explaining the family dynamic, the teen said his mother died when he was 7 years old and his father remarried when he was 11 or 12. His stepsister, meanwhile, never knew her bio dad, while his father “has accepted her as his own.” Since the families blended, OP said he felt his father has “prioritized her a lot,” claiming father-son time “was put on an indefinite hiatus,” while she was given plenty of father-daughter time.

“He has attended her dance things instead of my basketball games if they’re on at the same time. It doesn’t matter if mine was known about first, he will still skip my stuff to go to hers,” OP continued.

The teen went on to claim that his father would always pick his stepsister’s choices when the kids are given the option to pick a spot for dinner, saying his dad even says, “anything his little princess wants.” He also accused his father of spending “money from my birthday fund” to repair a refrigerator and shower in the home, before spending $250 on gifts for the girl and giving his son a $30 gift card.

“When my dad told me he wouldn’t be at my graduation to go and support her, I told him there is no making up for that and he can forget about being included in my life going forward,” he continued. “He told me he would make it up to me and I told him I will always come second to his little princess and I’m not going to be okay with that. I told him he’s discarded me for the last time. Dad begged me to be reasonable but I walked away.”

OP claimed his stepmother told him he didn’t even need to attend the ceremony himself and could instead support his stepsister.

“I said her daughter’s not my sister and I do not want to support their family anymore and I will be out of their hair soon. She called me selfish and told me I can’t deny her daughter a dad,” he concluded.

Readers were overwhelmingly on the side of the teen, whose post generated 14K votes and nearly 3K comments.

The most upvoted comment said the 18-year-old poster was not the a-hole in this situation, adding that while his father may want to be there for his stepdaughter, he still needs to “maintain balance” between the kids. “That balance never existed. Once she came into his life he prioritized her every step of the way,” OP responded.

“Wow what a horrible way to keep showing you you don’t matter to them,” wrote someone else, before OP replied, “Really I only want to matter to him. But time and time again he has shown me that I don’t.”

“I hope you pointed out to your father that while trying to make up for his step daughter having a loser father that he has indeed become a loser to his own child, how ironic,” said someone else, prompting a heartbreaking reply from OP. “also mentioned how she has two parents now and I have zero because I already lost my mom and now I lost him as well,” wrote the teen.

Many others pointed out that there was no need for the father to skip graduation, as the stepsister already had the support of her mother and her other siblings … while OP was left with nobody.

OP also replied to someone wondering whether his stepsister understands what’s going on and if they’ve spoken about the situation. “My stepsister knows but we’re not close and don’t really have a relationship so it doesn’t bother her,” he added.

What do you think?