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Teenagers have a gift for testing boundaries, and this story is no exception.

One concerned mother had tried plenty of strategies to stop her daughter from skipping school, with mixed results at best. Her daughter dug in whenever she didn’t feel like going, and her grades were starting to show it.

Then came the ultimatum: miss more school, and she’d miss the parents weekend visit to her brother across the country.

The daughter looked forward to the trip, but yet she still walked out after lunch one day. The mom kept her word and forbade her from going on the trip, and now everyone is sad about it.

Now she’s left asking whether holding firm was the right call.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA For not letting my daughter miss school to visit her older brother in college?

My daughter is 16 and in 10th grade. She misses a lot of school for various reasons: not feeling well, tired, etc. When she doesn’t feel like going, she digs in with 100% commitment to avoid going.

As a parent, she’s tried nipping this behavior in the bud, but nothing has seemed to stick.

We’ve tried a lot of different strategies and consequences for missing, with varying results. I should also say she is not getting great grades this year and really doesn’t seem to care…

Our son is in college across the country, and we are planning to go visit him for parents weekend.

Soon this mother used this as her latest strategy to try and get her daughter to shape up.

Our daughter was looking forward to going, but we told her about 3 weeks ago that if she missed any more school, she could not miss additional school to visit our son.

Sure enough, she wasn’t feeling well and decided to leave school after lunch last week. We told her if she does this, she cannot miss to go visit our son, but she decided to miss anyway.

She doesn’t actually want her daughter to miss the trip, but she knows good parenting requires tough decisions.

We all want her to come with us for the visit. We do not want to keep her home, but I don’t know how else to emphasize the importance of school and grades, etc.

This is the week we’re leaving, and she’s going to stay home, at a friend’s house, but she’s really, really sad. And so are we…

Is there anything we could have done differently?

This is a parenting win, all things considered.

What did Reddit have to say?

This user thinks it’s worth more deeply investigating her daughter’s problem with attendance.

This user also struggled with attendance when they were younger, but they had a good reason.

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There could be underlying health issues to blame.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who can’t complete her work-from-home duties because her mom’s houseguest won’t stop talking.

The reasoning behind these things is often more complex than it appears on the surface.

This mom did the hardest thing a parent can do, which is sticking to a boundary, even when it means upsetting someone you love.

In her defense, she gave a clear warning three weeks ahead, tied it to something her daughter truly wanted, and then watched her walk out of school anyway.

Backing down would have taught the daughter that every ultimatum is a bluff.

The heartbreak in the house is real, and it’s also the proof that the consequence meant something.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.