Parenthood is a challenge, especially with two sons on the spectrum.

This woman found out that her mom had been ignoring messages from her brother’s teacher, so she told her mom off. After that, she immediately felt guilty because she knew her mom was doing her best.

Read the full story below.

AITA for telling my mom that my younger sibling is her responsibility?

I am 23, and I have two brothers, 15 and 16 years old. Both are on the autism spectrum, but the 16-year-old is severely autistic, so he relies on us 24/7. The 15-year-old is pretty high-functioning, and he mainly struggles with socializing.

My mom stays at home, and my dad works second shift, so he’s always at work when my brothers are home after school, and they really only get to see him on the weekends.

Today, my mom asked me to look over some texts that my 15-year-old brother’s teacher sent her. I got on her phone and saw that she had dozens of messages from this teacher.

Some of them were automated messages that were probably sent to the entire class, but a lot of them were about my brother specifically.

They were about any missing work that he had, and in some cases, the teacher would suggest that my mother make my brother do “x, y, z” before the upcoming test so that he’s well prepared.

This woman told her mom off for not relaying the teacher’s messages to her brother.

So I asked my mom if she had even read any of them or if she was making my brother do all this work, and she said, “I do read them, and I bring them up to your brother, but he says that he doesn’t know what any of that is.”

That infuriated me.

It infuriated me because the teacher was literally naming all the things that needed to get done, and my mom wasn’t telling my brother, “Okay, you need to do this, this, and this.”

She expected me to do it for her. I always speak kindly to my mom, but this time I couldn’t contain my anger.

I said, “So you read these messages and did nothing? What else do you want? The teacher is telling you what to do, and you don’t do it.”

She felt terrible when she heard her mom sobbing.

I gave her the phone back and left. So I basically told her that it was her problem. A few minutes later, I came back, and I heard her crying in the bathroom, so I feel terrible now.

I understand that she is very overwhelmed, as she is the main caretaker for my severely autistic brother.

She has a lot on her plate, but I do too. I have my own mental health issues that I’m working through, and on top of that, I am trying to get into grad school.

I try to help when I can, but I have become very busy, and I am drowning in my own thoughts. She could speak up to my dad and tell him that she needs his help, but she doesn’t.

The moment they realized that my 16-year-old brother was going to need 24/7 care, my dad should have changed his shift so that he could help with my brother after school.

She knew her dad could help out more.

There are so many things they are doing wrong, and my mom is suffering the consequences of those choices.

My dad is one of those dads who thinks only working and providing for the family is enough.

He doesn’t help around the house except when he needs to do handy work, and he lets my mom carry the entire mental load.

I feel bad for her, but I can’t fix her life for her. I’m trying to start my own life, but I feel guilty thinking about leaving my mom all on her own.

It’s an overwhelming situation, and everyone deserves some grace.

Let’s read the comments of other people on this topic.

This one has some advice.

A sensible suggestion.

Here’s a kind response.

This user feels bad for the mother.

And this one calls out the dad.

Kindness and boundaries in a tough situation go a long way.

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.