College Student Wallows In Disappointment After Expecting Birthday Celebration Like The One Her Golden Child Brother Got

"Reading this post, I thought for sure the brother was a minor still living at home."

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• May 16, 2023

Reddit posts about sibling rivalries are heartbreaking. It's always the golden child versus the black sheep sibling.

Their parents find ways to pit one against the other while they wash their hands off of the toxic dynamic they created. In this story, the family bond fell apart because it was built on two cakes.

OP's parents threw a surprise birthday party for her older brother. He is a computer engineer, so they had a bakery make a computer-shaped birthday cake for him.

They gave him a small present for him and invited just their immediate family. In contrast, OP's birthday didn't make a splash.

She was away at school for her 23rd and thought her parents would celebrate her day when she got home. OP's hopes were dashed when she got home to no celebrations.

She asked why they didn't have a party for her. Her parents said it is pointless since it's been a month since her birthday passed.

OP thought that the point was to make her happy, but she shrugged it off. She and her parents had an argument.

Eventually, OP's mom baked a simple round vanilla cake for her. It is unfortunate because OP doesn't enjoy homemade cakes, but they at least gave her a small present.

OP's expectations of an intimate party or a personalized cake never materialized

They had a fight again and OP was called an a**hole

Her parents said that she should have been more grateful for what she got

Is 23 too old for parents to throw parties for their children?

Because OP's 28-year-old brother doesn't seem to be too old to be celebrated

Good point, OP is old enough to make her birthdays more special for her

Unfortunately, her birthdays were never special to her parents even when she was kid

Her brother's birthdays were given more care even back then unlike OP's

Their parents are not big birthday people but they always got a nice gift for her brother. Meanwhile, OP was given shoes that only fit her mom.

Did they at least leave a voicemail on OP's actual birthday to mark the occasion?

It's looking more and more that OP should never expect anything nice or decent from her parents because they are determined to ignore her

The obvious favoritism in OP's post is disheartening. Her parents have a pattern of treating her brother better and doing the barest of minimums for her.

It is obvious that OP resents her parents for treating them unfairly. It must have suck as a child constantly comparing yourself to your brother who your parents blatantly favor.

They didn't even know that OP doesn't enjoy homemade cakes. That's how much effort they put into getting to know her.

Even without OP's further comments, it was clear from the post alone that her parents didn't put any effort into celebrating her birthday. Learning that her brother was 28-year-old just made everything clearer.

OP now has an obligation to herself to make up for all the birthdays her parents failed to give her. She has the agency to fill her birthdays with happiness around the people that care for her.

The moment that OP got home, she knew she was getting the bad end of the stick again. It was probably routine to her at that point after years of being treated worse than her brother.

She hoped that maybe her parents would be different this time around but they just failed her. We join Redditors in wishing better birthdays for OP in the future.

Chelsi