A girl whose mom died when she was eight years old opened up to her dad about their daughter-father relationship, and his reaction hasn't gone down well online.
Losing a parent is one of the toughest things that anyone will ever go through, and it also means that somebody has lost their soul mate.
In these times of hardship, the remaining parent and their child should come together and support each other - or so you'd hope.
One woman has taken to Reddit where she has opened up about losing her mother at eight years old, and the impact this had on her relationship with her dad.
Taking to the Am I The A**hole forum, she wrote: "I was 8 when I lost my mom and we were as close as ever but I needed him more. Then when I was 11 he remarried and he became a stepdad to a girl who was 10 at the time. Now, this is where full honesty comes in. I was jealous as hell that my dad was trying to bond with her and that he called her his daughter and us 'his girls' right away."
The Redditor was very candid about her jealousy, noting that she "felt sick" whenever her dad spent time with his stepdaughter, but she noticed that he would eventually start spending more time with his new family than with her.
She recounted an incident where she overheard him speaking: "I was 13 my dad said how much he preferred hanging out with her over me because they had similar interests. He said he couldn't spend enough time with his stepdaughter and he was hoping I would hit the teen phase of not wanting my parents around me that much."
She continued: "Then he admitted he also resented me for not wanting his wife the way her daughter wanted him. He wanted us to be the perfect little family and we looked like a stepfamily where the step is always used because I didn't really want his wife for stuff."
She gave her dad his space and he didn't seem to mind, but when his stepdaughter turned 16 and wanted her own space, he appeared to be crushed by it.
Years later her dad approached her about why she didn't call him to help her move into her new place, and she revealed everything from her jealousy to what he had overheard him saying.
She notes that he seemed "offended" by what she had said and that he said she was "disgusting" for wanting him to not spend time with his stepdaughter.
She concluded: "He also told me he should be allowed to have interests in common with someone other than me. I told him he was. But I was also a kid who lost my mom and clung to my sole living parent.
"He then accused me of manipulating him by saying all that and I told him that he shouldn't have asked a question if he wasn't prepared for an honest answer. He told me I could f*** right off with that attitude and told me to grow up."
People in the comments were not happy with the dad, as one person wrote: "Unfortunately your dad will never understand your side of things. It’s best to walk away to avoid your heart being broken over and over."
A second said: "He clearly didn’t provide you with enough love and reassurance and just expected you to accept them. I could see his position partially up until the point where you share your recent call with him and he just denied it and accuse you of manipulation. He clearly failed to provide enough stability, reassurance and emotional empathy to you."
A third concluded: "Now that you are no longer close, he wants to whine to you about how hurt his feelings are, but he still wants to take zero accountability for his failures as a father. He needs to grow up himself."
What are your thoughts?
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