Teen's Emotional Reaction To Parents' Divorce Leads To Punishment Instead Of Support

"My parents are furious with me and took all money out"

Maryjane

• Published in Interesting
• May 29, 2024

Probably the worst part about divorce is having to break the news to the kids. You and your partner can make things easier by preparing what to say and how to say it.

Children must be reassured that everything will work out. Sitting down together as a pair is the most effective way to convey this message.

It's critical that children understand you're on the same team and that even though you won't be living together, you will continue to parent together. The age of your children influences what you say, so don't try to overload them with details.

They will most likely have numerous questions, and it's up to you to give your best response. Giving them a timeline or some sort of explanation about what will happen will help, as children's responses to hearing about divorce vary.

Some will be upset, guilty, or furious, but the OP chose to cool off at his friend's place after his parents announced their divorce. Worse still, they chose not to reveal why they were getting divorced.

Later on, they yelled at the OP as he packed and called him an AH who doesn’t give a crap about his family. The OP left anyway, and now his parents are furious with him and threatening him too.

And here goes the story's title

OP's parents chalked it up to his dad being really loud when he snores

When the OP told his parents about it, they yelled at him and called him an ahole

OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the a-hole:

I feel like an ahole for leaving my siblings to deal with this alone. I should have done something for them instead of ditching them. They are both younger than me and I feel like it is my responsibility to make sure they are ok and I haven’t been doing a good job of that.

The Reddit post got hundreds of comments, and here are a bunch of the most upvoted ones

It's not the OP's responsibility to look after his younger ones

Making sure the friend's parents is okay with him being around

This Redditor also needed to get away at a friend's house

It's not the OP's job to be a comfort to his parents

They are the ones who are unhappy in their marriage

Trying to find the silver lining in the mess

They're not handling the OP's need for space well

The OP should not have to take sides

Redditors didn't blame the OP for leaving, but as a kid, he is powerless to decide whether or not to return, and his parents are not doing well at all with how they handle things. When they realized how stressful this is for the OP, they ought to show him far more empathy rather than trying to take away his lunch money.

Still, many Redditors believed the OP took a responsible step and let his deep emotions out before they affected anyone else.

Maryjane