Stressful moments become extra difficult when everyone has different expectations.

In this story, a woman learned that her mother’s surgery had gone well. She checked in with her father and thought everything was okay. Later, however, she discovered that her father felt disappointed with how she and her siblings responded.

This story is one of those common family misunderstandings when a parent expects more from the children than they realized was expected of them. This is a relatable story where different people express different ways of showing care and concern.

Read the full story below.

AITA for not asking about my mum post surgery?

For some context, my mum had a pretty simple surgery earlier this morning, and all went well.

I woke up late (around 12 pm), and by the time I checked my phone, the surgery was already over. And my dad had sent on the family group that the surgery had went smoothly and my mum is alright.

I texted my dad to ask if she’d be staying in the hospital until the next day.

And he said yes. And that’s where I left the conversation.

This woman learned that her dad was mad at her brother for not checking up on their mom right away.

Well fast forward to a couple hours later, my brother texts me and says our dad is mad at him.

I ask why, and he says because he didn’t check up on our mum after the surgery.

I was confused because neither did I really. I just asked when she’d be let go, and my dad didn’t sound mad at me when I called him.

My brother explained that our dad thought it was rude that he didn’t ask about my mum after the surgery, and my brother knows he should’ve asked but he’s been busy today.

My sister had a German lesson and didn’t check up on my mum either.

She casually said she would visit her mom, but her dad misunderstood the way she said it.

When my dad got home he asked if I wanted to visit my mum at night.

And I said sure, why not?

He then asked me, “Why not or you should?”

I said what’s the difference?

He’s being a little too picky about the wording.

And he said “why not” is me saying it’s optional and “I should” is me saying I want to see my mum.

I obviously told him I want to see her.

And he just said, “Right.”

Now, her dad is acting cold towards her and her brother.

He’s now ignoring my brother and went on a rant to my sister about how all 3 of us reacted weirdly to this. That we should’ve called right after he said the surgery went well and checked up on our mum.

He ended it with “but whatever,” and he’s been acting pretty cold with me now, too.

He’s usually very cheerful and lighthearted. So yeah, AITA?

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It’s understandable that the father was emotional because of the stress surrounding the mother’s surgery. However, while his feelings are valid, expecting everyone to react in the same way may be unreasonable. A simple conversation could probably clear up the misunderstanding.

Let’s read the comments of other Redditors on this story.

Here’s an honest opinion.

This person makes a good point.

Another person chimes in.

People are calling them out.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a sister who let her brother maintain a shared car for years, and doesn’t want to start doing it herself now that he has his own car.

And lastly, another harsh but honest remark.

Not everyone expresses love and concern the same way.