A young woman sparked outrage among Redditors when she refused to cancel her trip abroad to spend time with her baby brother. Her parents have very different views, and she’s stuck in the middle. Here is the full story.
She’s Always Been Focused
OP is an 18-year-old student who is her 41-year-old mother’s oldest child. The two have never really been close, and OP lived with her dad while her mom focused on building a career.
OP’s parents were never married, but her mother recently married a 38-year-old man who seems like a good guy. OP gets along with him fine, and he treats her mother like a queen.
So it wasn’t much of a surprise when OP’s mom and her new husband decided to have their own child. OP now has a baby brother she loves very much, even though she knows they’ll never have a typical sibling relationship.
For her part, OP has always been a good student, and she focused hard on getting ahead in high school. She enrolled in dual credit courses wherever possible and graduated with a diploma and an associate’s degree.
And Yearned To Study Abroad
From there, OP enrolled at a college with an intense study abroad program, and she landed a full scholarship to study overseas for a semester. She is beyond excited and can’t wait to get going.
When OP told her parents about her big news, her dad was very proud and excited. Even her stepdad seemed stoked, but her mom was quiet about the whole thing.
Later, OP’s mom told her she didn’t think she should go on the trip. At first, OP thought maybe her mom was worried about her safety or that she would get lonely.
But mom had other concerns that floored OP when she found out what they were.
She Was Shocked at Her Mom’s Attitude
OP’s mom told her she knew her daughter wouldn’t come home for her regular breaks if she studied abroad. That meant she would miss necessary bonding time with her new brother, and their relationship might never recover.
She thought that if OP wasn’t there to see her brother hit developmental milestones, they’d never have a real brother-sister relationship. OP could hardly believe her ears or how selfish her mom was being.
OP told her mom that since there were so many years between them, chances are she and her brother wouldn’t have a typical relationship, no matter what. Besides, OP said she’d be back before the boy was even in preschool.
But OP’s mom told her it wouldn’t be the same and that a good sister would not even think of leaving her baby brother behind. OP was almost done arguing at that point, but she had to let her mom know what she thought.
She Had No Intention of Putting Her Life on Hold
So OP said that she had no intention of putting her life on hold just because her mom decided she wanted to start over in her 40s. She had never asked to be a sister, especially not at a point in her life when she was ready to focus on herself.
With that, OP left and went back to her dad’s. She told him what had happened with her mom and that she might have been too mean.
But OP’s dad told her to make the choices she thought were right. He said that doing that would not make her a bad daughter or sister.
Now, OP feels terrible that her relationship with her mother is strained. However, she’s more motivated than ever to get on with her life.
“Her Brother Is Not Her Responsibility”
Redditors overwhelmingly support OP and think she should move on with her life. As she says, it wasn’t her choice to become a sister at 18, and her brother is not her responsibility.
Many commenters advise OP to run from the situation as fast as possible because her mom is looking for free childcare. If OP sticks around now, she may never be able to break free.
He Refused to Serve Entitled Tourists That Cut in Line, Much to the Delight of Onlookers
The post Choosing Dreams Over Duty? A Teen Was Blasted by Mother for Prioritizing Her Studies Over Newborn Brother first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / David Pereiras. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit