I’ve always thought it was pretty weird (and a bit uncomfortable) when people try to get their stepkids to refer to them as “Mom” and “Dad.”

You can’t force that kind of stuff…especially with teenagers.

Check out what this Reddit user had to say in this story from the “Am I the *******?” page.

AITA for still not seeing my stepdad as my dad?

“My mom and stepdad have been married for 9 years.

When they got engaged mom sat me (7 at the time) and my siblings (9 and 10 and 12 at the time) down to talk to us about it. We all said he wasn’t our new dad just because they got married.

Mom said no but she expected us to keep treating him with respect and understand he would be in charge sometimes and he would be taking on a more active role going forward because he was signing up to be our stepfather.

Everything seemed to be fine…

We always got along pretty well with our stepdad. The biggest issue we had was the fear he’d be forced on us as a new dad or we’d be expected to call him dad or something like dad. We were told that would never be asked or expected but we should give him a real chance.

Our feelings never changed and for my siblings that seems to be more accepted. But I (17) was only 2 when our dad passed away so apparently my mom and stepdad expected my feelings to be the ones that would change and it came out in the most awkward way a few weeks ago.

My siblings were home and my grandparents and stepdad’s parents were visiting. My stepdad and mom were joking around with their parents and my stepdad looked over at me and said something like you thought I would never be your dad and he and mom laughed.

Uh oh…

I said nothing and that caught their attention and they just kept staring at me. Mom eventually asked why I wasn’t laughing and I said because it wasn’t really funny when I don’t see him as my dad.

It pretty much destroyed their fun and the mood in the house.

Later that night my mom asked me where that came from and I asked her what she meant specifically because I thought they knew I didn’t see him as my dad.

She said no and after saying no a few times she said they had assumed I had gotten over that reaction because I couldn’t even remember dad and only ever had my stepdad in the role.

I asked her why they thought I still used his name and she said teen stubbornness. I asked why they thought I always did something for dad on Father’s Day and she said she assumed it was to do something with my siblings and that maybe I was keeping dad’s side of the family happy.

And I was like no, it’s because he’s my dad. The conversation was over after that.

These people need to give it a rest…

The next day my stepdad and mom asked me if I was serious about stepdad not being my dad. I said yeah and I told mom the stuff I told her was all true.

They told me they were having a hard time wrapping their brains around it because my stepdad has been there and has loved me and has been the only dad in my memories so why would I see him as anything else.

And I said because he’s my stepdad, not my dad.

Mom asked me if I ever gave him a chance to be more and I said no. She told me I didn’t listen to her then. I said I listened and I gave him a chance to be someone I could like and be okay having around but I never said I would give him a chance to be my dad. Mom said we all did and I said none of us did.

And now things are still weird and my mom and siblings are fighting because they think she’s being unfair and mom thinks they negatively influenced me.

AITA?”

Here’s what folks had to say on Reddit.

This person said she’s NTA.

Another individual spoke up.

This reader weighed in.

Another Reddit user said she’s NTA.

And this person had a lot to say.

Her stepdad should know that you can’t force these kinds of things…

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.