When this 16-year-old woman’s brother, who is now 9, was born, her parents didn’t have much time for her anymore. Then, things got even worse after her brother turned 3 and was diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Since then, her mom has always been extremely busy with her brother, and her dad is barely home. So, she doesn’t feel like her parents are really there for her.
But she’s known her best friend, Rachel, ever since they were in kindergarten. She thinks that Rachel’s mom is the nicest human being she’s ever met.
She and Rachel both played soccer, for instance, but her own mom was never able to take her to any games or practices. That’s why Rachel’s mom stepped in and would always bring her.
She also used to be in her school’s choir for six years, and during that time, her own parents only went to one performance. Rachel’s mom, on the other hand, attended every performance just to be there for her– even though Rachel was not even in the choir.
“Those are just a few examples, but Rachel’s mom has always been there for me when my parents weren’t available,” she explained.
“And my mom never really cares what I’m doing unless she needs me to watch my brother, so I spend a lot of time at Rachel’s house.”
In fact, she once even spent a whole weekend at Rachel’s house, and her mom didn’t even call to find out where she was. Since Rachel’s family takes a lot of vacations, they usually bring her along, too.
So, since Rachel’s family is planning to visit Disney World over Thanksgiving break, she was invited to tag along. She was thrilled about the idea, asked her dad immediately, and he said she was allowed to go.
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Rachel’s family has since planned and booked the entire trip, too, and she is super excited– especially because her only trip to Disney with her family was a disaster.
“I’ve been to Disneyland once with my family, and it was horrible,” she recalled.
“My brother threw a huge tantrum on the first day because he wanted to go on the rides alone and sit between my mom and dad, so I had to stay in the hotel most of the time.”
More recently, though, there was a major hitch in her vacation plan. Apparently, her brother found out that she was going to Disney without him, and he had a massive meltdown.
Once that happened, her mom suddenly decided to mention that they were planning to visit Washington to see her grandparents. But since her dad never mentioned that trip, she thinks her mom just made that up to stop her from going to Disney.
Plus, even if her parents were going to Washington, she wouldn’t want to go with them.
“I don’t want to go on a fourteen-hour car ride with my brother, and I’m pretty sure when we get there, they’re either going to make me stay with him while they go out or take him out and leave me alone in the hotel room,” she admitted.
“I also wouldn’t be allowed to go out on my own.”
Still, her mom didn’t understand her perspective and claimed that she just needed to think about her brother– whose feelings are “more important” given his younger age and ASD diagnosis.
“But I told her that I honestly don’t [care] about my brother’s feelings, and I wish he was never born,” she revealed.
Her brother was there when she said that, too, and he proceeded to scream and cry for three hours straight afterward.
Her mom focused on trying to calm him down; meanwhile, her dad said that she was still allowed to go on the Disney trip. Apparently, he also grew up with a neurodivergent sibling, so he understood why she was so frustrated.
Despite that, though, her mom was still furious at her and accused her of being a rude and ungrateful brat who needed to be nicer to her brother.
So now, she’s been left wondering whether telling her mom that she doesn’t care about her brother made her a real jerk or not.
Can you understand why she feels so frustrated with her own family? How would you feel if your parents left you behind at hotels on vacations or went days without noticing you weren’t even home? Even so, should she have taken her anger out on her brother or her parents?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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