Divorced families can be difficult to navigate.

As much as parents want everyone to get along and be one big happy family, sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.

This kid’s mom learned that the hard way when he bowed out of a family trip to avoid the drama.

Details are below!

AITA for telling my mom I’m not going on vacation to celebrate my half-brother’s 16th birthday?

There’s so much background.

I (16m) will be 17 soon. I live with my dad.

My parents are divorced. But there’s a twist.

They were already divorced when I was conceived (like a couple of weeks after).

Dad was clear he wanted to be in my life.

Mom and him didn’t get back together.

While mom was pregnant with me she met her husband (Dan).

Oh wow! It sounds like Dan was prepared to help her raise a child.

It started awkward especially when Dan showed up to the hospital when mom was in labor but dad was in the delivery room.

It got worse during Mom and Dan’s engagement because he wanted to take me out of state for four nights without mom.

[Dan] needed to give permission for it to happen but Dad said no.

Four nights is a long time for a parent to trust someone new.

Dan argued that he was going to be my second dad and that I’d grow up with two dads, and how he should be trusted to take me out of state for four nights.

Dan was always talking crap about my dad and telling me about that incident and how dad treated him like a lesser parent.

He also talked about Dad pushing him (Dan) out of the delivery room which makes me think there’s a lot of jealousy over that still too.

Oh wow, no kid should have to hear all this.

He also mentioned the fact my parents were divorced before I came along.

I hated Dan for doing that, and my loyalty is with my dad.

I have rejected Dan [in] every possible way, and Dan blames my dad for that.

My mom never told Dan to knock it off. She would also encourage us to spend time together.

I made Dan’s life hard when I was younger in retaliation for how he talked about my dad.

I also made a few big scenes when Dan would try making others believe he was my dad. I did this in front of my half-brother too.

I probably hate Dan as much as Dan hates my dad.

Tell us how you really feel! Woof.

My half-brother has grown up knowing how I feel about Dan and how Dan feels about my dad.

So he hates my dad on Dan’s behalf.

He doesn’t like how I treat Dan. Which means we fight a lot.

My half-brother tries to say Dan is a better dad and I should treat him better.

We do not like each other.

And I can honestly say I do not love or care about my half-brother and I have zero loyalty to him.

We have never ever had a good relationship.

We fight constantly about Dan and dad.

Our relationship, if you can even call it that, sank when I told my half-brother I would never like or respect Dan, and I would celebrate if him and mom divorced and I would never see him again.

My half-brother feels like Dan deserves better.

I hated mom’s house, so last year, Dad, on my behalf, asked the judge to let him have custody.

This is certainly escalating… What will the judge say?

I was interviewed and custody was changed.

But I still have to go one weekend a month until I’m 18.

My half brother is turning 16 in May.

Mom has promised him a birthday vacation.

She wanted to check dates with me, so we’d all be there, and I told her I’m not going.

That I’m not celebrating her other son and won’t in the future either.

Ok, no words were minced!

She started crying and asking why we had to be like this, and she told me we’re family and I should be there because I might regret losing a brother one day.

I told her I wasn’t changing my mind, and she told me I was so unfair to everyone.

AITA?

Divorced families can be tricky.

What does Reddit think about this sticky sitch?

Firstly, a commenter noted the dad’s right to protect the child.

Secondly, a user mentioned that the mom’s silence increased the hostility.

Next, Redditors sympathized with the son but were relieved they had their father.

And, after a resounding “NTA,” a reader wrote that time apart for these siblings might be best.

Maybe this family will find common ground in the future, but for now, space is needed.

There’s nothing Mom can do to fix it now.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.