A recent thread on the Am I The A**hole (AITA) subreddit saw a teenager asking if she was in the wrong for telling her dad she would never forgive him if he took her grandparents to court.
#1. A Sad Start
The teenage girl in question is 16. Her mom has recently been diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, which has sadly spread throughout her body.
#2. Care At Home
Her mom put up a good fight, but about a month ago, her doctors decided it would be best if she went home on hospice – her mom agreed.
#3. Grandparents to the Rescue
Since her diagnosis, her mom has had multiple treatments for cancer at the hospital. During this time, the teenager’s grandparents took temporary custody of her because her mom was too ill to look after her.
#4. Life at Her Dads
This teenage girl usually spends the weekends at her dad’s house – she has since her parents divorced when she was five. She enjoys spending them there.
#5. Cramped Quarters
Five years ago, her dad married her now stepmom, and she gained two stepsisters. Her dad’s house is small, and her stepsisters share a room. She has to sleep on a sofa in the living room whenever she stays, so it isn’t an ideal place to visit all the time.
#6. A Devoted Daughter
Now ever since her mom went home on hospice, this teenage girl has wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.
#7. Her Compassionate Grandparents
Her grandparents haven’t forced her to go to her dad’s; they understand she wants to spend time with her sickly mother.
#8. Her Dad Isn’t happy…
However, this has upset her dad, who has taken it personally, despite her explaining she wants to spend more time with her dying mom.
#9. The Events of Today
The girl’s upset dad and wife visited her at her grandparent’s house today. He argued with her grandparents. He was angry that they hadn’t encouraged her to see him more often.
#10. These Grandparents Rock
Her grandparents argued back, explaining that she could make her own decisions and had every right to want to spend time with her mom, especially considering her condition.
#11. Threats Are Given
Her dad was annoyed by this, and he brought up the divorce court agreement that says she must see him weekly. He threatened her grandparents by saying he’ll take them to court if he had to.
#12. She Stands Up for Her Family
This threat was too much for the teenager, and she had to step in. She told him, “if you make us deal with family court while my mom is on hospice and we’re just trying to spend as much time together as possible I’ll never forgive you.”
#13. The Wicked Stepmother
Her stepmom called her a brat for trying to “guilt trip” her dad. Her stepmom said she understands she wants to spend time with her mom, but that doesn’t mean she can just stop seeing her dad.
#14. Her Mom’s Wishes
The teenage girl explained in her Reddit post that her mom wants her to live with her grandparents full-time but continue seeing her dad on weekends if she wants to. She concluded her post by asking, “so, AITA?”
#15. Redditor’s Thoughts
With over 13,000 upvotes, Reddit users loved Bitter-Conflict-4089’s comment. They said the girl was NTA (not the a**hole) because “his wife called you names and he allowed it.”
#16. Cruel and Insensitive
ButterflyWings71 agreed, adding, “esp knowing her poor mom is in hospice. beyond cruel & insensitive on both of them & most courts (states I worked & lived in) would make OP stay with such vile people (not to mention lack of space & stepmom’s verbal abuse). So sorry OP is dealing with all of this.”
#17. They Need To Understand It’s Temporary
Finallyinfinite’s comment got over 4000 upvotes. They said, “NTA. Your step mom doesn’t “understand” you wanting to spend your limited time with your mother, or else she wouldn’t be trying to take it away.”
They continued, “They have a right to want to stick to a court-ordered contract. But this is clearly a temporary extenuating circumstance, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be upset with them for not being willing to make an exception for your sake.”
The teenage girl responded to this, explaining, “It’s definitely only something I wanted to do temporarily like I said I enjoy going over to my dad’s house even though sleeping on the couch isn’t ideal but I much rather be with my mom while I can”
#18. Old Enough to Decide
Dizzy_Yard7671 agreed with the overall Reddit verdict of NTA, saying, “You are old enough to decide and the court will agree. You’re also not wrong to want to spend as much time with your mom as you can; hospice is usually end of life care. I’m just sorry you’re even in this position.”
Reddit users were on the side of the teenage girl, but what do you think? Should she have said that to her dad?
Our article has been inspired by Reddit and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Mama Say What?!
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Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Dmytro Zinkevych. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.