There are two kinds of parents when their kids come to them on a school day saying they’re sick: the ones who let them stay/come home no questions asked and the ones who tell them to suck it up if they’re not barfing or running a fever.

OP is both moms; it just depends on which kid is ill.

She says that her daughter, 18 now, has chronic health issues that have taken up a lot of her time and energy over the years – admittedly to the point where she’s basically neglected her younger brother.

I’m a 48-year-old single mom to two kids, we’ll call them Rachel and Vik. Rachel recently turned 18, and she has a lot of chronic health issues she’s been struggling with since she was little.

We’ve been blessed that she has a lot of good periods, but right now she’s having some trouble, likely due to the stress of next year’s graduation and all that entails. I’ve been kept pretty busy making sure she stays as healthy as possible.

I think Vik has always resented the extra attention his sister receives, which is understandable. I’ve always tried my best to make sure he has special time devoted to him, too, but I’d be lying if I said Rachel’s health hasn’t taken precedence over everything else.

The brother recently learned his academic record is so good he gets to graduate early and she didn’t make a big deal out of that, either.

About a month ago we had the good news that Vik will likely be graduating early due to academic excellence. I was so happy and congratulated him, but I noticed that since then his behavior seemed to be worse.

He was more moody, short with me, not eating meals I made.

So when he called asking if he could come home early because he felt sick, she dismissed it as wanting attention and refused to get him.

Last week I took Rachel to the doctor’s over a sinus issue. While we were there Vik called from school saying he was in a lot of pain and could I take him home early. I told him he knew I was at the doctor with Rachel. He got pissy and said some not-so-nice things about me favoring her.

I’ll admit I jumped to conclusions and thought that this, combined with his other bad behavior, meant he was just trying to get attention, since his early graduation news hadn’t given him enough.

I told him because of his attitude I wasn’t picking him up early at all, and after Rachel’s doctor visit was over I went to work as usual.

Later that night she found out he really was ill and took him straight to the doctors. She also apologized.

When I got home, everything seemed normal. But when I called the kids down for dinner Vik didn’t come. When I checked his room I quickly realize he’s genuinely sick.

I immediately rushed him to the doctor’s and apologized profusely to him for not believing him initially.

OP thinks that’s sufficient and everyone makes mistakes, but is she making too light of things?

I tried to explain that his behavior recently is why I assumed he just wanted attention. He said if it was Rachel I wouldn’t have made that assumption, though I assured him this wasn’t true. Since then he hasn’t really talked to me.

Was I really being the a**hole? I think I made an honest mistake and corrected it as soon as I found out things were serious.

Reddit is going to let her know.

The top comment says she’s probably taught her son a lesson – but not the one she intended.

This person agrees she likely damaged any trust he had left in her.

A lot of people who were the “healthy kid” can relate.

This commenter says even if she thought he was faking, he should still be concerned.

Other parents say OP needs to do better.

This one hurts my heart.

No kids should feel as if they know exactly who their parent favors – especially if it’s not them.