When young children have to take care of parents early in life a lot of resentment can build.
The most simple things can stir a lot of feelings and drama.
Like cooking. Cooking should be fun, until someone has a critique that feels negative.
Case in point...
Redditor MYSTIC_SALAD wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback. So naturally, they came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
"AITA for telling my dad that if he didn't like the way I made dinner then he should just make it himself?"
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
"I (14 N[on] B[inary]) make dinner every night."
"The only times I don't cook is if I am with friends or if I'm ill."
"My dad (54 M[ale]) is incapable of making dinner.
"I don't know why but he cannot cook anything."
"The only things he can make are microwave meals and burgers."
"I had to eat the same microwave meals for 11 years of my life (when I was with him as my parents are separated) until I learned to cook proper meals."
"Everytime I cook for him, he will find something to complain about."
"Either that it doesn't have enough salt or the potatoes aren't cooked enough or why did it take so long?"
"It's always rude and never in a constructive way."
"I have tried to teach him how to cook but with no success."
"Today I made salmon with potatoes, green beans and a mustard sauce."
"He said that I should have taken more of the green bean stems and that the sauce wasn't thick enough."
"I kind of just snapped."
"I told him that if he did like the way I cooked, then he should act like an adult and make it himself."
"He started yelling that I was rude and I was making him feel incompetent."
"I told him that he was incompetent and he stormed off."
"This all happened about 30 minutes ago and I think I should have just kept my mouth shut."
"AITA?"
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA?:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP was NOT the A**hole.
Let's hear some thoughts...
"NTA. I hereby give you permission to use the sayings that moms have used since the beginning of time..."
"You have two choices for dinner: Take it or leave it. I'm not running a restaurant."
"I'm not a short-order cook."
"You can make yourself a sandwich if you don't like it." ~ MaIngallsisaracist
"You are not his mother or his servant."
"I think you are doing a fine job of cooking for the two of you, and you are to be commended for your maturity and cooking skills."
"He can eat what you make or go hungry if he is that helpless. NTA." ~ Not-Vanilla5678
"NTA. Don't criticize people for doing better than you can."
"Unless you're a trainer and it's your job to make them better than you." ~ Irish_beast
"I just want to say, since obviously your dad isn’t, that you are doing an incredible job."
"You’re obviously talented if you’re out here cooking salmon at 14."
"You shouldn’t have to be responsible for all that, but I hope you can make the best of a bad situation."
"It sounds like you are already by honing your skills."
"Anyways, 14 yo me would have wanted an adult to say this so even though I’m a stranger on the internet: I’m so impressed by you."
"You are absolutely NTA and your dad should be grateful that you’re helping out in such a big way."
"If he didn’t want to feel incompetent, he should work on being a competent adult."
"I hope it gets better soon."
"Maybe this was a wake up call for him." ~ whatintheblueblazes
"Also OP, you realise he's projecting right?"
"You're a great cook, and you don't need internet strangers to tell you that."
"You already know that yourself."
"But your father feels showed up by your prowess, which is an immature response to your burgeoning kitchen skills."
"So he's finding stupid things to complain about - imaginary insults."
"I don't know how safe it is for you to be clear with him."
"But if you can, tell him straight up; how he feels about his own skill level with food isn't going to stop you from experimenting in the kitchen."
"Don't let his shortcomings, shame and reliance on Chef Mike drag you back into the crab bucket." ~ addisonavenue
"I completely agree not only are you NTA! You are AWESOME!"
"You are doing a fantastic job!"
"I applaud your survival instinct and your initiative to learn to cook, and cook complex tricky meals at such a young age."
"At 56, I don't like trying to get a perfect mustard sauce."
"Half of the time I will bungle it."
"Yay for your dad for not leaving you behind when your parents split up. Boo! "
"For your dad for being so judgmental instead of being supportive in your efforts to cook healthy wonderful meals!" ~ Betrayed_Orphan
"It’s great that you can cook but you shouldn’t have to and that’s the point here."
"You’re not the parent. Your father is."
"You’re still at an age where he should be providing for you and if you can learn to cook then so can he."
"You weren’t wrong to speak up and he owes you an apology. NTA." ~ NatZaJu
"It seems pretty clear that he's criticizing OP's dinner to mask his embarrassment at being shown up by his 14 year old child."
"And about not being able to cook for them (providing sustenance being the among the basic requirements as a parent)."
"This is absolutely the worst and most immature way to express it."
"Especially since he's the 'adult' in this situation, but I want OP to know what this really is and that it's NOT a crticism against them."
"In fact, he's he's criticizing your meals BECAUSE they're so good, which makes him look so very, very bad."
"I'm sorry that OP doesn't have a parent that can be there for them and praise their accomplishments."
"Congratulations on being such a good cook at such a young age!" ~ Objective-Bite8379
"NTA..."
"I was making him feel incompetent."
"I mean, if the oven mitt fits."
"He’s a fiftysomething man who can’t cook anything that doesn’t come straight out of a box, but he feels entitled to nitpick your efforts?"
"I think it’s time to just make your own dinners and let him fend for himself, if he’s so convinced it’s that simple to do better."
"Or seriously consider staying with your mom, ‘cause I feel like I might have an idea why she’s had enough of this marriage." ~ mm172
"NTA. He’s weaponizing his incompetence."
"I suggest you stop cooking for him, so that he has to learn how to cook for himself."
"If he’s being extra stubborn, you can start weaponizing some incompetence of your own and starting cooking things slightly off for him... i.e., burn it, undercook it, etc."
"And if he’s critical, ask him to fix it." ~ Individual_Wonder602
"NTA. You're right, your dad should not be criticizing your cooking."
"It's one thing if you say how was it? And he says it was good."
"A touch more salt may enhance it a little next time or I might try trimming a bit more of the stems on the green beans."
That isn't what is happening though, your dad is trying to tear down really impressive efforts by a 14 year old who is self taught."
"And it isn't that your dad can't cook."
"It's that your dad is lazy and refuses to put any effort into cooking."
"He is fine on subsiding on bad frozen meals because they take no effort."
"He is fine blasting someone else's food (that is world above the half nuclear half still frozen freezer meals) because that takes no effort."
"Boiling a pot of water. Phew."
"Might have to lift a pot a whole five times."
"Add five more lofts of a bowl for some pasta sauce."
"And then having to open a jar and a box of pasta."
"I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Oh God!"
"I totally forget he would need a strainer too. And are there sides?"
"For the love of God please tell me he doesn't need to put a loaf of garlic bread in the over or open up a bag of premade salad!"
"Can we get a Kickstarter opened for this man immediately?"
"I'm putting him up for Sainthood."
"Does anyone know the link to nominate someone for being a saint?"
"Wait, where was I?"
"Oh yeah. NTA. You weren't rude."
"You said what needed to be said."
"If your dad feels incompetent then he needs to do something to work on himself."
"That is a him problem not a you problem."
"Stop cooking for your dad."
"He needs to be appreciative and put in some effort before he earns the right to have you cook for him again."
"And yes, that is a right he has to earn."
"You are his child. It is not your responsibility to take care of him." ~ Letters_from_summer
OP... Reddit is with you.
Your dad needs to eat or go hungry.
Or learn to cook.
It maybe time for a sit down with a therapist... and a chef, for him.
Woman Asks If It's Wrong To Hold Grudge After Mom Told Her When She 8 Years Old That She Wished She'd Aborted Her
While some people view having and raising children as the greatest blessing, some parents hold their children's existence against them for their entire lives.
And when they feel that way about their children, they're unfortunately typically pretty honest about it, cringed the members of the "Am I Overreacting?" (AIO) subReddit.
Redditor heavelymango knew from the time she was young that her mother did not really like her and significantly favored her sister.
But when her mother told her at the age of eight that she wished she had aborted her, the Original Poster (OP) held on to that grudge for years after the fact.
She asked the sub:
The OP had a grudge against her mother.
"I (22 Female) have been holding onto a grudge due to something my mom told me when I was roughly eight or nine years old."
"Growing up, I was a rebellious kid and always felt as if my mom favored my older sister. My sister would always get whatever she wanted."
"I know she was born with Down syndrome and always needed more attention and care, but if my sister wanted my tablet, for example, she would have it for the whole day while mine was limited to 30 minutes so she could have it."
"As a kid, I lashed out more because of this. She could take all of my things, but I could never use hers."
During a heated moment, the OP's mother said something unforgivable.
"Eventually, this led to an argument with my mom. I don't recall the whole thing, but it was related to my sister and how I felt my mom didn't care about me or give me the same amount of attention."
"The fight got heated, and I probably told my mom that I hated my sister and her."
"I remember she said back, 'I never wanted you from the start. I knew I should've aborted you when I had the chance.'"
" I didn't know what aborted meant at the time, and I remember I looked it up, and it made me cry. I never forgot it, and it lingers in my mind whenever I am home."
The OP's mother pressured her to "let it go" and move on.
"Even growing up, I still brought it up, and she would get mad, saying I need to let it go and how I'm stubborn for not just forgetting what she said."
"There was even a time in high school when she took me to a therapist, and she complained about how I never dropped what she said."
"She says I need to move on from it because it has affected my relationship with her, and she wants to fix it."
"I know I'm older now and it was so long ago, but it still hurts, and I feel like it's made me not want to have her in my life in the future, and I have told this to her."
"How I don't want her in my life once I move out, get married, or have my own kids."
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
Some reassured the OP that this sounded like a core memory more than a grudge.
"The axe forgets. The tree remembers."
"It sounds less like you're holding a grudge and more that this is a formative, core memory for you."
"It won't stop being a core memory (unless maybe with the help of a lot of therapy). Has your mom ever apologized for saying that? Because you don't have to forget to forgive, but if she's not remorseful for saying that terrible thing to her young child (not just remorseful that you remember it), then she probably needs therapy (or is a narcissist/sociopath/similar)."
"You are certainly not obligated to 'get over it.'" - Hot-Can3615
"This is not a 'grudge'; it is pain that is still felt to such a degree. If she said it, then she was thinking it. She'll probably never apologize, but that doesn't mean your pain is or was invalid." - Fast_Register_9480
"NOR. This kind of thing needs a real apology. Like she needs to acknowledge the damage and genuinely care about it. Brushing it off won’t make it go away." - TentacleWolverine
"NOR. Did she really want to fix things? She basically just told you to get over it from the start instead of giving you a sincere apology."
"That isn't working on anything. She wants you to get over it so she can pretend that she never said it, so she doesn't have to feel bad about what she did. It doesn't sound like she cares much about how you feel."
"She just doesn't want to deal with it. For that reason, I would still have issues with what she said." - Chemical-Ad6809
"If your relationship with your mother is being affected by the actions of your mother, your mother is responsible for fixing it."
"You should know you probably aren't ever going to get closure, but you don't have to swallow it down. It helps to be the person you needed when you were younger out loud to yourself, but especially to others."
"For example: My name is Liz, and my mom told me to go ahead and do it already and save us all the heartache when I finally had the courage to tell her about how much I've been struggling with self-harm and suicidal ideation. I'm never going to forgive her for that, and we have never been close as a result of her actions."
"You aren't holding onto a grudge; you have a core memory of your mother distilling her feelings into a world-shattering sentence."
"You did not have a secure attachment before and can't have one now because of the deep trauma. You do not apologize for being stabbed."
"Find another therapist. I mean it. Someone who cares about your well-being wouldn't force you to apologize for being verbally abused as a child. I'm 29 now, and I lived through it. I still struggle with suicidal ideation daily, but once I stopped relying on my mom and unstable sources for support, my life got better immediately."
"You want things for comfort and familiarity. Don't let your mom or your therapist gaslight you into crossing a boundary."
"It might help to ask for a written five-part apology from your mom. 1. Acknowledge what you did 2. Say why it was wrong 3. Promise not to do it again 4. Ask how to make amends. 5. Share your feelings at this time if there's anything you'd like to say."
"My mom can be a good person and a bad mom and role model. Being in your own company is so much better than poor company." - PotLuckyPodcast
Others hoped the OP would go no contact with her mother sooner rather than later.
"NOR. It’s emotional abuse. And you do not owe her closeness after that, especially as she refuses to be accountable for that and try to make it up to you."
"She knows you have her number, and she can’t forgive you for knowing what a colloidal b***h she is."
"It’s unlikely that will change; it will at least be turned back on you with her the victim."
"Stop expecting her to apologize. If she doesn’t pay your bills, ghost her." - SnooCheesecakes2723
"My mom said something similar. My brother and I were adopted, and when I was a teen, in front of a church lady, she said, 'We didn't even really want you, but the people didn't want to split y'all up, so we just took you, too.'"
"Me and the church lady were shook. When I say my falbbers were ghasted. Like huh? She didn't remember saying that when I brought it up years after the fact."
"I also got grounded two times for two separate nine weeks (for C's on my report card) and a three and a half to four months (for smoking at 16 and getting caught because she liked to just pop up out of nowhere), and we just had a talk about that, and she didn't even remember."
"She said, 'No, I didn't. I never grounded you for that long,' and when I gave my rebuttal, she said, 'Well, if I did, it definitely wasn't for no nine weeks or months,' and this started because she was praising me for reading so much and liking books. I said, 'Well, when you were grounded like me, that's all I could do (no TV, no friends outside of school, no music, nothing but my room and books)."
"There's a reason I only call or answer her calls once or twice every few weeks. And I only call to get food, really..." - ManicalMoe
"‘Fine, I'm sorry’ is not an apology."
"Whilst I’m sure it was said in anger, most things said in anger have a grain of truth. There are also some things that no half-decent parent ever says to their children, no matter how angry they are, and this is one of them! It also sounds like she has made repeated similar comments of not wanting you as her child."
"I understand her eldest had a disability, but this is no excuse for neglecting and emotionally abusing her younger child. Lots of families deal with a child with additional needs whilst still managing to prioritise their other kids. Children with Down syndrome are capable of understanding ‘that’s your sister's, not yours; give it back’ !! It sounds like your mum has mental health issues?"
"Do you have a present father or other family you can turn to?"
"Protect your peace. Your mum has hurt you time and time again, honestly, for no real gain other than momentarily satisfying her anger. You owe this woman nothing." - Background_Term9810
"I went through something similar. When I was a little girl, my mother used to make comments that implied she didn't want me, though it was never that explicit. 'I only had you because your brother wanted a sister,' and 'My figure never recovered after you; after your brother, it did.'"
"Each comment stayed with me, but I never addressed it with her. I tried to move on and leave it in the past. She did a lot of horrible things throughout my life, but her behavior was always ignored because that's the precedent my dad set, where she can do essentially whatever she wants."
"A few months ago, she came to see me because I was desperate for help and sick. Instead of helping, she made my life so much worse. I won't go into details. At one point, I could no longer keep it inside, and I told her that she is a narcissist, to which she responded with, 'It would have been better if I had never had you.'"
"In some ways, it felt really good to hear her come out and say it. It felt good to hear the truth I've always known."
"I don't know what you should do, but I've chosen to not forgive."
"Every time I forgave, I just let her know that she can get away with whatever horrible things she had done. Her apologies were never real apologies. She always found ways to blame me or others for whatever she had done."
"And I'm truly just done with it. As sad as it is to not have a mom, it's sadder to pretend that you have one when in reality you don't... quite the opposite, if anything." - Neos_Mom
"So, OP, what will hurt more: keeping her and the grudge in your life or making a break and going low or no contact with her?"
"Frankly, we've no idea of what she might have been dealing with at the time, but regardless, what she said was said only to cause pain and suffering. 'Sorry' doesn't magic that intent away."
"Me, I think spending time alone or with friends or in therapy away from her might be what you need here. You might come to some sort of acceptance, but if this is something that's just going to keep coming between you, then stop trying to have that relationship." - Tal_Tos_72
After the OP received feedback, she shared a few clarifications from her original post.
"I wanted to clear some things up, take accountability where it's due, and provide some much-needed context from many people commenting the same questions."
"I want to be completely honest. We had many arguments, and I was a rebellious kid. I acted out and argued with my mom."
"I don't want to give off the impression that I was an entirely innocent kid who never did anything wrong and my mom just snapped out of nowhere. We both said hateful and hurtful things to each other during our fights."
"Growing up, the only way she would accept an apology was if I got on my knees and begged her for forgiveness. If I ever asked her to apologize to me, she would say, 'I have nothing to apologize for; you should be the one begging for my forgiveness.'"
The OP had a lot of physical memories, too.
"Things also would turn into physical arguments, not just verbal ones."
"There were times when she would get so angry she would get physical. Like yanking me by my hair, twisting my arms, or throwing things at me (like remotes, a bug spray can, or a radio)."
"When she yanked my hair, I would fight back just to get her to let me go, and she would scream that I was trying to kill her and she would get me arrested. When she twisted my arm, and I begged her to stop because it felt like it was going to break, she would say she hoped it did."
"When she threw objects at me, she would say she wished they would hit my face."
"I remember in middle school, during an argument, she said she wished she could break my face and that she hated it because I look like my dad. I won’t lie, whenever she said things like that, I would say nasty comments about how she chose to have him put us in her."
While the OP wasn't financially ready to move out yet, she hoped to as soon as possible.
"Why haven't I moved out yet? The main reason I haven't been able to move out is financial."
"I wasn't making enough to support myself without worrying about whether I’d end up having to crawl back home."
"Thankfully, I have recently found a better-paying job. My plan is to move out between mid-to-late October, or early November at the latest."
"The only reason I can't leave this exact second is because I have a few legal/administrative things to get cleared up so I’m completely untied from my mom, which will take a few weeks."
The OP also had proof that her mother liked her sister better.
"Has my mom ever admitted to favoring my sister? Yes."
"In arguments, she has explicitly told me that she doesn't see me as her legitimate daughter, and that she adored my sister more and forever will. She has also called me a 'monster,' told me there is a certain type of evil inside of me, and said she was afraid I would be just like my dad and try to harm them."
"She would even tell me that she was telling family and friends these things about me, but then later claim she 'just said it in the moment' and wouldn't be crazy enough to actually tell people that."
"Because I was so confused growing up and didn't know if she was lying or telling the truth, I started avoiding our family when they came over."
"Naturally, that just made things worse because she would get mad at me for avoiding them (even now as an adult), completely ignoring the fact that she was the one who lied about what she told them."
Unfortunately, the OP didn't have support from her father.
"What about my dad? My dad is not in my life."
"He was around sporadically, but never as a stable parent. My parents separated before I was born and divorced when I was two or three."
"Growing up, it was just constant back-and-forth toxicity, with him telling me how toxic my mother was, and her telling me the same about him."
"He would mostly only come over to see my sister, and often used me to care for her if he wanted to take her out to eat. Ultimately, my dad didn't care about anyone else other than my sister (and his drugs)."
"I hope this can clear some questions on the original post. I know I didn't provide many details as I originally should have. I honestly didn't want to post something too long, and I honestly did not expect it to be noticed."
"Thank you all for taking time to talk to me and share your thoughts."
The subReddit fully sided with the OP, pointing out that no matter how heated the moment was, it would never excuse the terrible things the OP's mother had said to her.
If the OP's mother really wanted a relationship with her, she'd drop the defensiveness and demands, offer a genuine apology, and work hard to be better for both of her children.
That takes a very rare kind of person to pull off, and it didn't sound like the OP's mother had that in her.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp