Sometimes your home environment can seriously impact your mental health.
For this person, her mom wanted her to pay rent, so she moved out.
But things still took a turn, and now she’s being pressured to move back home.
Let’s get the full scoop…
AITA for refusing to move back in with my mother because now she looks bad to our community?
My (18F) mother (44F) started asking me to pay rent because I turned 18.
I would say that we live an upper middle class life and they definitely do not need the money.
Additionally, I am the ONLY person who is being asked to pay rent. My 21 year old brother still lives here rent free, my step brother also lived here rent free when he was still here, it’s only me.
Let’s find out why…
I don’t have the best relationship with my mother or her husband Kyle (44M) so i’m not surprised.
I told my mom that I would rather have my own place with some independence and I moved out.
I told her there were no hard feelings because she has the right to charge whatever she wants in her home, but I have the right to move out.
She thought I was bluffing, she ended up very shocked when she came home on the day I said i was leaving to see my room empty.
It was about 3 weeks after she asked me to pay rent.
Things weren’t easy, though…
In my culture, girls do not move out of their family homes until they are married. I scoured the internet and spoke to friends and could find NO ONE that was looking for a roommate.
Landlords are also reluctant to rent to young people without their parents support because if the young person can’t pay, the parents would usually cover them which wouldn’t happen in my case.
In the end, I moved in with a man called Michael (39M) as a live in housekeeper/roommate situation.
It was a decent salary with discounted rent and the work was basic tidying up/laundry and occasional cooking.
I found the listing online and met him to make sure it was safe. I’ve lived there about a month now and my mother is very unhappy.
Now, there’s judgement…
She is saying that members of our community have found out i’m living with a ‘random man’ and i’m bringing shame to the family.
She is demanding I move back and she promises she won’t charge me rent. She also promises to treat me like an adult.
I refused her offer. I’ve never experienced a home without yelling and bullying and it’s been the best thing ever.
My mental health has improved and i’ve even befriended my employer which is funny because we are very different people.
My brother called me an AH for refusing to come back and he says that I am embarrassing my mother. AITA?
Let’s see what Reddit thinks!
This commenter supports her decision to move out.
Another Reddit user notes the importance of mental health.
This user warns her to be careful with her new roommate.
Others pointed out that she should tread lightly here.
Families are complicated, but the moral of the story… do what’s best for you!
No one else is going to look after you like you.
If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.