Horrible Families
No one can choose their family, and sometimes that results in some nightmare parents and siblings.
From selfish mothers and fathers to straight-up idiot brothers and sisters, these Redditors took to the internet to vent about their horrible, ridiculous, and sometimes unbelievable family situations. Get ready to feel good about your problems.
1. Netflix And No Chill
My friend had just about enough of her stepsister piggybacking on her Netflix subscription, especially after they clashed over a not so serious disagreement on the phone.
Quick to lash out, the sister flung horrendous insults at her, lambasting her about her shortcomings—despite herself sitting on a pile of student loans worth $60K.
And get this, she didn't even finish the last year of her studies. Fed up, my friend decided to end this. She changed her Hulu and Amazon Prime passwords as well; a further blow to her often pampered sister. When the sister had a meltdown, my friend calmly texted her: "Maybe it's time you started paying for your own accounts".
The reply from her sister was comedy gold. "I don't have any more money you witch! Sephora was having a sale so I'm tapped out! Screw you”!
To this day, my friend and I have a chuckle about it as we enjoy our uninterrupted binge-watching sessions on her digital platforms.
2. Stealing Her Thunder
Recently, I found out I was pregnant, a joyful news as I have always longed to have a child. Being single and career-driven, I wasn't sure if having a baby was in the cards for me. I was eager to share the incredible news with my family.
My elder sister has a seven-year-old son, while my brother and his wife have firmly decided not to have kids.
We had a family dinner last night which seemed like the perfect moment to reveal the news. As I planned to have only one child, I wanted it to be a memorable moment, and I decided to involve my nephew. I bought a t-shirt for him with an inscription "
this is what an awesome big cousin looks like".
Before dinner, I had a heart-to-heart talk with him, telling him he was going to be a cousin. He was thrilled and quickly wore the shirt, hiding it under a sweater to reveal when he felt like it at dinner. In the middle of dinner, he showed off his t-shirt, leading to my sister's overjoyed reaction. However, things took a turn for the worse.
Everyone immediately thought my sister-in-law was pregnant. Though I was not surprised, as she is married, the fact she played along and didn't correct them hurt me. Misinterpreting my reaction, my mom chided me for not feigning happiness.
I attempted to clarify that I initiated the t-shirt idea, but my words fell on deaf ears as they continued celebrating my sister-in-law. Witnessing an utterly baffled brother and oblivious family, I decided to leave.
Subsequently, they messaged me, blaming me for being self-centered.
Accusations of jealousy floated around, none of which I addressed. I just retreated to my bed, overwhelmed with sadness. The truth surfaced the following day when my sister-in-law confessed she was not pregnant. Apologies started pouring in, saying they got carried away, but they also added a cruel twist.
They claim I wasn't transparent about being pregnant and proposed a re-do dinner to correct their wrongs. My sister-in-law messaged me saying she wanted to experience the announcement feeling despite knowing she won't ever have a kid.
She assured me that I could reproduce that moment at the re-do dinner. I kindly declined their offer for a redo, and they labeled me as self-interested and uncooperative for not allowing them to amend their mistake.
To me, it's an irreparable situation.
I'll find it in my heart to forgive them, however, I won't do a second proclamation to make them feel less guilty.
3. We All Go Down Together
When my sister was arranging her wedding, her mother-in-law, who was even more disagreeable, decided to be part of the preparations. Unfortunately, this lady was insistent on weaving her family traditions into the celebration. The traditional food, I could accept, even the high-energy line dance, but then she dropped a bombshell on my unsuspecting mother. It was a custom in her family for older, unmarried daughters to perform a dance in a pig trough at the wedding reception.
To my sister and brother-in-law, this idea seemed wildly amusing. Since I was the lone unmarried older daughter, I would be the star of this comedic farce.
The problematic mother-in-law repeated this 'joke' in every phone call, while my mother battled to shield me from the impending ridicule without my knowing.
Until I saw her in tears, I remained oblivious. Once I was clued in, however, retaliation was my only thought. At the time, I had recently extricated myself from a bad relationship. I had still not mastered the art of saying 'no,' but I did know how to say, 'If I'm going down, I'm taking you all with me.' And, I hatched a brilliant plan.
To the mother-in-law, I promised, "I'll perform this dance in front of your entire family...nude". All naked, no ifs or buts. Suddenly, the joke wasn't as funny. The subject was dropped, and that would be the last time that lady ever spoke to me.
FYI, it's been 12 years.
4. Grandfathered In
My partner and I have been together for three years. We got engaged a year ago and plan to tie the knot after our unborn baby boy is born. However, there's tension brewing.
Ever since my revered grandfather heroically yet tragically passed on when I was a child, I've hoped to name my first son after him.
My mom, whose father he was, feels especially strongly about this. His name is surprisingly not an old-fashioned one, but a timeless, still popular one today. Interestingly, it's also the name of my partner's estranged father.
She rarely ever discusses her father, and mostly addressed my grandfather as simply—grandfather. This never struck me as odd initially since she's never met him, and that's how I refer to him too.
Her blunt refusal when I suggested the name for our son though, took me by surprise. In spite of my repeated attempts to stress its significance and its timeless appeal, I ended up discovering it was the name of her abusive father.
Naturally, this was a blow and I immediately conceded to not naming our son that. I respected and honored that choice, even though it hurt, because my partner's wellbeing was more important than memorializing my grandfather's name.
However, the real issue was the harsh response from my family, who were adamant on continuing the naming tradition.
Despite my partner bravely revealing her troubled past to my mother in hopes of quelling the discord, she ended up sharing the information with the entire family.
The outcome was a wave of family members reaching out under the guise of support, yet stubbornly insisting on using the name.
In retaliation, we resorted to blocking many of them on social media and via phone. But with the impending arrival of our baby, the pressure from our family has only intensified, going as far as using the name in reference to our unborn son.
They assume that if they persistently use the name, we'll see it as the natural choice. Despite stern conversations with my parents, particularly my mum for spilling my partner's secret, there's been no resolution.
My partner is left distressed, often in tears, and this situation has compelled us to change her phone number to mitigate the impact. We feel cornered and uncertain about how to handle this impasse.
