Imagine being raised by just your mom, and her boyfriend moves in with you. What would you do if the boyfriend started scolding you as if he were your dad? Would you be upset about it, or would you figure that’s reasonable since he might eventually be your stepdad?

In this story, a teenager shares what happened when her mom’s boyfriend unexpectedly stepped into a “dad” role.

Check out the full story.

AITAH for saying that my mom’s boyfriend is not my dad?

For context, I’m a 17 year old girl and my father passed away when I was 14 years old.

My father and I were always extremely close while my mom took more of a backseat.

It’s not that she wasn’t present, but my father was my main person.

She knows the current situation isn’t the most ideal…

Currently, my mom and her boyfriend have been dating for a little over a year now. He’s been living with us since September of 2025.

It’s going well between the two of them, and I don’t dislike him.

However, there has been issues between me and her boyfriends in the past, where she doesn’t consider my feelings when bringing a new man into our lives.

This sounds like a nice place to hang out.

The other night, my friend was over the house.

Our basement is finished and we have a lounge down there with a couch, TV, etc.

My friends and I hang out down there.

She had a simple request.

My friend was going up to ask my mother a question, so I asked if, while she was up there, she could ask for batteries for the TV remote.

I didn’t know where the batteries were, nor did I know which batteries the remote took (I could’ve looked, but human error, I didn’t think to do that).

My friend did so, and came back with batteries.

I thought this was completely fine and there was no issues.

This is weird.

The next day, I was sitting at the kitchen table eating, when my mother’s boyfriend put two batteries down in front of me. I was confused, and asked why he did that.

He said, “To prove a point.”

I was confused by this, and he said he was ticked off by last night.

I tried explaining the situation, admittedly a little frustrated, and was not taken at my word.

She didn’t think of the obvious.

My mom said that I could’ve done it myself.

And I was upset that such a small situation was made such a big deal, so I raised my voice and said that I didn’t know which batteries were used in the remote.

My mom’s boyfriend then came into the room, and stood, obviously mad, and said, “You couldn’t have undid the back and looked, huh? You couldn’t have done that?”

In the moment, I had no words for that and I went silent. Which, looking back, he was right, but I didn’t appreciate the tone he was taking with me.

He stood there while I went silent, before leaving the room.

She wasn’t okay with that!

Now, this upset me further because when my mom started dating him, and when he moved in, she said that he would never have any say in what I do. He would not discipline me or be able to take any sort of disciplinary-adjacent role in my life.

So, I texted her shortly after, because she was with him and I didn’t want to be in the room. I said, “He was out of line. He shouldn’t discipline me because he’s not my dad. Please do something.”

I might’ve been a bit harsh, so I went back after and told her I wanted to talk to her, and that we needed to talk about this.

It’s not over.

Now, she’s ignoring me.

I realize I was very harsh and immature, but it’s truly how I feel.

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I believe I was in the wrong for the way I came across and the attitude that I used, but I don’t believe I was in the wrong for the way I felt and still feel about this situation.

So, AITAH?

It sounds like her mother forgot her promise to her daughter. Either that, or she changed her mind. Either way, it’s ridiculous to be so upset about batteries!

Let’s find out what folks on Reddit think about this one.

This user thinks the mom is being a bit weird about the whole thing.

This user understands that this man isn’t her dad!

She explains more about the story!

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who can’t figure out why her babysitter quit after what she thought was a routine question.

This user knows that the issue isn’t the batteries…

This user knows the step-dad and mom are the problem!

That escalated quickly!