September 19, 2026 at 5:10 am

His Kid Didn’t Laugh At His Joke, So Now He’s Just “First Name” Instead Of “Dad”

by Jayne Elliott

teen boy thinking about something

Shutterstock

What would you do if your dad joked that he’s not really your dad? Would you find it annoying, funny, or actually believe him?

In this story, one kid is in this situation, and he doesn’t find it funny at all. He’s able to brush it off the first couple of times, but eventually he was so fed up with this stupid dad joke that he decided to get revenge on his dad in a pretty petty way.

Now, his dad is annoyed, and his mom wants him to stop. Should he?

Let’s read the whole story to decide.

AITA for not calling my dad “dad”?

I needed help with something stupid.

So I started calling my dad.

For 10 minutes no response.

He finally noticed.

He was watching a movie so he didn’t notice.

He finally comes and sees me struggling starts laughing and says who told you I’m your dad?

Then bursts even more laughter.

Dad kept the joke going.

Same day but evening I’m on Skype with friends playing a game and I call him to get me a glass of water.

He brings me the water and says now tell me please, how do you know that I’m your father? Then says while laughing who lied to you?

My friends were laughing so hard it was and still is a inside joke they tell to me.

OP decided to annoy his dad back.

Im pretty upset he did this because he knew I’m on Skype and he is saying this stupid dad joke over and over again.

And this is not the only time he pulled out this joke because it’s just so funny for him even when I sigh everytime he does it.

So I stopped calling him dad and now I refer to him by his name or his nickname.

I call my mom “mom” but my dad his name.

OP’s mom thinks it’s gone on long enough.

He doesn’t like it and mom told me that I should start calling him dad again because it starting to bother him and he doesn’t feel like a dad anymore.

But I don’t want to change how I call him until he apologizes for “trolling” me for over a week.

AITA for this?

It sounds like it’s time for father and child to talk this out. Dad’s joke was dumb, but enough is enough. Maybe an I’ll stop if you stop agreement would settle it.

Let’s see if Reddit agrees.

This person thinks he needs to talk to his dad.

2026 09 14 at 2.50.53 PM His Kid Didnt Laugh At His Joke, So Now Hes Just First Name Instead Of Dad

Another person offers a suggestion of what to tell his parents.

2026 09 14 at 2.51.32 PM His Kid Didnt Laugh At His Joke, So Now Hes Just First Name Instead Of Dad

It’s time to make the problem go away.

2026 09 14 at 2.51.50 PM His Kid Didnt Laugh At His Joke, So Now Hes Just First Name Instead Of Dad

He needs to point out how the joke made him feel.

2026 09 14 at 2.52.10 PM His Kid Didnt Laugh At His Joke, So Now Hes Just First Name Instead Of Dad

Basically, everyone who commented said the same thing in a slightly different way. The dad was annoying. The kid responded by being annoying. Now, he needs to tell his dad why he responded that way and explain that his dad now understands how the joke made him feel.

They need to talk this out and put it behind them.

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Jayne Elliott | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Jayne Elliott is a contributing writer and editor for TwistedSifter specializing in human interest stories, internet culture, and family dynamics. With over 12 years of editorial experience in digital publishing, Jayne excels at analyzing complex online communities and transforming viral social debates into thoughtful, highly engaging narratives.

Rather than simply aggregating internet drama, Jayne brings a sharp, empathetic editorial eye to everyday dilemmas. She has a unique talent for unpacking the nuances of pop culture and online conflicts, providing readers with relatable, well-researched commentary.

Based in California, Jayne spends her free time outside the newsroom exploring theme parks with her family or beach-combing along the coast.

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