It can be heartbreaking when a parent isn’t there for their children, especially if favoritism is involved.

See how one son dealt with his father’s apathy and the favor that follows it all.

Read the Reddit post below to find out more.

AITA for telling my dad I don’t owe him a favor and to stop asking like I’d ever help him?

I (17m) don’t have a good relationship with my dad anymore. We were close before. But then he moved in with his wife and her kids.

My dad focused only on them once we all moved in together. He was always with them, never with me. He focused too much on them.

Wow, this is already absolutely heartbreaking. I feel for this kid.

I tried talking to him but he was never ready to listen.

Until last year. We sat down and talked.

He’d been talking about why he was paying more attention to them and why it was important to him and how he wanted us to be close to (me and the kids).

Okay, so maybe the father is looking for unity within the family?

And then, he talked about how he knew from the moment he met them that they were meant to be his kids, and he was meant to be their dad.

But he always told me that becoming a dad to me had come with a lot, and he wasn’t always sure of me and stuff like that. How it took time.

He said it wasn’t ever natural or instinctual with me at the start, but he was making it clear it was with them.

What kind of father would think this is the right thing to say?

I told him that hurt and made me realize I wanted nothing to do with those kids.

He twisted himself in knots over it, and we set up a day for us to have some 1:1 time.

Just us. An entire day. Like he did with them.

Okay, so maybe he chose the wrong words…

Then his stepson ended up in the hospital, so it couldn’t happen.

Dad apologized a hundred times and promised it would happen soon. But then his wife’s relative died, and she was going out of state to the funeral, so of course, he couldn’t leave the kids and take me for a day while she was gone.

Sounds like a couple of unlucky moments.

And then he took a day off work while I had a day off school, and we were just about to go when his stepdaughter’s school called for an urgent meeting.

Dad’s wife was going, but Dad told me he had to be there, too.

I told him to forget it. I was done. No more chances.

He was clearly going to put them first and I was going to accept it and spend the next two years distant with all of them and preparing myself to move out and be independent.

I’m so glad this teen is setting boundaries.

Dad tried to convince me to change my mind. But, I did not.

He tried to spring it on me unplanned and I had plans, I told him that, and I told him he was useless to me.

He waited until my plans were over and picked me up because it was raining. I was going to walk.

He insisted he wanted just me and him for a few.

But of course his stepdaughter needed to be picked up, and I laughed and told him even a car ride was too much, and it’s why I was done.

Unbelievable. His dad just keeps shooting himself in the foot.

Now, there’s this thing his stepdaughter wants to go to. They couldn’t get tickets. My best friend’s parents are taking their three daughters and have a spare ticket.

My dad asked me to ask them if his stepdaughter could go. I said no.

He told me to do it as a favor to him.

I told him no.

He begged and told me it would make his stepdaughter happy. I told him I don’t want to make her happy.

How do I give a virtual standing ovation to this son?

I told him I don’t owe him a favor, and he should stop asking like I’d ever want to do something like that for him after everything.

I told him [in] a few more months, I’ll be out of his hair, so just forget it.

Dad got frustrated and told me I was making things difficult.

AITA?

This son has repeatedly received the short end of the stick from his father, but maybe this is just teen angst.

Let’s see what the comments say.

First up, a Redditor calls the son out point blank. NTA.

This user echoes the NTA sentiment and follows up with some advice.

One commenter empathizes with the son’s pain.

And finally, another commenter has a sense of foreboding for this father’s future.

This kid deserves a dad who engages with his life, not someone just going through the motions.

This dad is missing out.

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.