Family guilt can sneak up on anyone, even when they’re doing what feels right.

One young man thought attending his girlfriend’s showcase over his three-year old sister’s was the mature thing to do, but his mom made sure he felt like the bad guy anyway.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for going to my girlfriend’s dance performance instead of my sister’s?

I (19M) have a little sister (3F) who we’ll call “Eva.” Eva dances at the same dance studio as my girlfriend “Brittany” (19F).

The studio has a showcase coming up, but there are so many students that they have to split the showcase into two separate days.

Soon this young man is faced with a conflict, so he’s forced to make a choice.

Naturally, Eva and Brittany’s performances got put on separate days.

I can’t get the whole weekend off from work to see both of them.

He tries to justify his choice to himself.

I’ve decided to go to Brittany’s performance, as she’s in multiple dances and will be performing a solo piece, whereas Eva has one number and that’s it.

There’s also a strong chance Eva won’t even make it onto the stage because she wouldn’t even go near it at their dress rehearsal apparently.

But his mother isn’t taking it lightly.

My mom is upset about this.

She’s mad that I’m “choosing Brittany over Eva.” She said that I’ve watched B dance a million times — but I’ll never see E’s first-ever performance again.

Mom says that I need to be there as a big brother, not a boyfriend.

And his mom is determined to make sure he feels as much guilt as possible.

Whenever the topic of the showcase comes up, she says right in front of Eva, “Well it’s too bad your brother won’t be there to see you, sweetie.”

AITA for going to my girlfriend’s performance instead of my sister’s?

He shouldn’t have to apologize for a choice that didn’t hurt anyone.

What did Reddit think?

This mom is being super out of line here.

His mother is basically spoon feeding his little sister resentment.

It’s too bad there isn’t some kind of modern device that can record events that you can go back and watch. Oh, wait — there is.

Life is full of tricky choices like these.

He never expected his mom’s disappointment to turn into a full-blown guilt campaign.

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.