This 19-year-old guy's parents had him when they were very young, and it was unplanned. He remembers a lot of rough times growing up, listening to his parents argue and constantly hearing about financial struggles. Things started to turn around when his mother left his father, and she started seeing his stepfather, who brought financial stability and love. Together, his mother and his stepdad have a 4-year-old daughter named Melody. He recognizes that his mom is in a much better position now than she used to be, and so the gifts and attention that Melody receives are understandably larger than what he got. "When I was younger, it frustrated me to see her loved in a way I never was, but now I know that my mom did her best with the experience and resources she had. It's just bad luck that it worked out the way it did," he explained. Recently, his parents threw a huge birthday party to celebrate Melody turning 4 and invited all of their family, friends, and people that they knew from Melody's daycare. Soon enough, after a few drinks were had, the mothers at the party started gossiping with his mom. He overheard them start to tell stories about their children, and he was surprised to hear his mom start to tell stories about him rather than Melody. She shared how he used to collect change to give to her and his father in hopes that it would get them to stop fighting with each other. She referred to it as learning from her practice kid and how since she and her current husband never fought in front of Melody, she's a much easier child than he was. "That story is a painful memory for me, so I was hurt that she thought it was so hilarious, but I didn't say anything and tried to brush it off," he said. [caption id="attachment_259031" align="alignnone" width="595"] Valerii Honcharuk - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person[/caption] Sign up for Chip Chick's newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. Then, the mothers started talking about kindergarten since a few of their children would be starting school soon. His mother, heavily under the influence by this point, thought of another childhood story of his to share. She talked about how she convinced his school to let him go to gym class in his winter boots because those were the only pair of shoes that he had at the time. She was smiling and laughing, but the rest of the mother's facial expressions did not match hers. Still, she continued and expressed how it's great that Melody can have all of the shoes she wants now and how it's probably for the best that she didn't waste money on her practice kid since he got into trouble so much. He could not believe what he was hearing at this point, and before he heard any more, he decided to leave the situation immediately. "I texted my mom, 'I'm glad you find how poor and miserable we were so funny, but it really upsets me how you clearly think of me as practice for Mel. I'm going, so someone should watch the kids.' I then left without talking to anyone," he stated. When he returned home, he saw multiple texts from her, angry at him for leaving and annoyed that he couldn't take what was to her an obvious joke. She claimed that since they were her stories to tell, she could tell them in whatever way she wanted to. Also, she called him sensitive and told him that he should see a therapist, even though she is well aware that he already does. He was too upset to respond at that moment, but now he's wondering if what he did was wrong. Do you think he was wrong to up and leave the party, or do you think it's understandable that he did based on his mother's comments and behavior? You can read the original post on Reddit here.
