For many people, family titles are more than just labels. They symbolize deeper connections and emotions.

When it comes to blended families, you can’t just force anything to happen before everyone involved is ready.

In this story, a teen and his mother enter a battle of wills when he refers to their blended family as “step” or “half,” against her wishes.

The conflict reaches a breaking point, prompting a decision that ends up altering their household dynamic.

Read on to find out what happens next.

AITA for “making” my mom send me to live with my grandparents?

My mom has decided I (15m) need to go to live with her parents, A.K.A. my grandparents.

She made this decision because the last 5 years, we have fought over step and half titles in the house.

My mom is married to someone who isn’t my dad, I call him my mom’s husband.

He has a daughter, I call her my stepsister.

My mom has kids with her husband and I call them my half siblings.

The family wasn’t happy with these labels.

They tried to make us a “no step or half family” and I didn’t go along with that.

My stepsister is my stepsister, not my sister. My half siblings are half siblings, not siblings. That’s what they are.

I share no parent with my stepsister and one parent with my half siblings. I learned about those titles in school in like first or second grade.

The mother hated it so much that she forced outside intervention.

My mom tried putting me into therapy, she tried family therapy for me, her and her husband.

They punished me, and he used his old army punishments to try and make me comply and to “teach me actual respect” or whatever.

Mom talked to me about the why and what can she do to make me feel like I can drop them.

She has told me using them won’t make me suddenly have a bio dad. (He didn’t want a kid so he left mom when she was pregnant.)

The teen’s refusal to drop the labels was impacting the whole family.

Her husband told his daughter I’m her big brother so she was getting upset that I’d say stepsister, because she learned about it in school like last year.

She was upset because step means not real, which is how SHE said it.

It’s been such a big fight for the past five years and my mom has given up.

Finally, the mother decides she can’t take it anymore.

She told me I need to go and live with my grandparents. I said fine.

My grandparents were eager to have me live with them.

Then mom got mad at me and told me I’m making her do this and I should be willing to compromise and work on a solution for me to stay.

The mother and son can’t seem to come to an agreement.

I told her we’ll never agree and if that’s what makes her send me away then I won’t fight to stay.

Mom told me I shouldn’t be forcing her hand like this and she told me she can’t believe me.

AITA?

After years of conflict, the situation seemed hopeless to them.

What did Reddit have to say?

It seems her mother’s tactics to manipulate her may have backfired.

After all this family’s been through so far, maybe a little space from each other would help.

You can’t just force loving relationships!

This redditor doesn’t think her mother is playing fair.

The teen’s decision to live with his grandparents became a bittersweet escape.

It’s high time to reevaluate the true meaning of family.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.