Parents don’t always realize how their actions affect their kids.

This teenage girl was upset to find her mom flirting with another man.

Because of this, she decided to stay silent during her mom’s birthday song.

Things got worse when her stepdad stepped in and grounded her for breaking her mom’s heart.

Do you think this was fair? Check out the full story below and share your thoughts.

AITA for not singing “Happy Birthday” to my mom and then packing a bag after I got grounded for it?

I (17F) and my mom (36F) have always had issues.

Just recently, she celebrated her 36th birthday.

The night before, we had a family fun night together.

But she had invited a guy friend of hers and his wife and kids to this bowling alley.

This teenage girl noticed how her mom could be “flirty” around other men.

They were both being really close together, even with my stepdad and this guy’s wife within 10 feet.

The only thing I hear from my mom is, “If only kids weren’t around.”

She says that to this guy.

His wife suddenly gets very clingy and possessive over him, which I would, too.

My mom has cheated on my stepdad before multiple times, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she did it again.

She didn’t sing “Happy Birthday” to her mom because of what happened the night before.

Now, it’s the next day, and we are celebrating her actual birthday.

I’m still salty about the night prior, but now, I have to watch my three half siblings (6, 5, and 3).

I don’t like watching them because they hate me, and I was still overwhelmed.

So, while my stepdad and siblings are singing happy birthday, I stay silent.

My stepdad gets mad at me, and then, they leave to go an hour away to party.

She texted her mom and stepdad about a paper in school they needed to sign.

An hour after they leave, my youngest sibling throws up.

I clean it up and then text my parents.

They read the text and say nothing.

After that, I also said I needed my mom to sign a paper for school.

And then my stepdad responds immediately about the paper.

Her stepdad grounded her for not singing “Happy Birthday” to her mom.

I then ask about hanging with my BF (18M) on Friday.

My stepdad says, “Well, you broke your mom‘s heart for not saying happy birthday to her. So what I think is that you’re gonna be grounded from going anywhere with (BF’s name) on Saturday. I think that’s an easy solution.”

She cried to her boyfriend and started packing her things.

I then proceeded to lose my mind crying to my BF and text my aunt.

I am currently packing a bag just in case they kick me out for arguing with them about being grounded over something so dumb.

So am I the jerk?

Let’s read the responses of other people to this story.

This person gives their honest opinion.

It feels like there’s a lot of chaos in the house, says this one.

This user thinks it’s insane.

Here’s some thoughtful advice from this one.

Finally, short and straightforward.

It looks like the happy birthday song is such a big deal in some families.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.