She Was Forced to Cook Separate, Specialized Meals for Her Father—So She Purposely “Forgot” Until He Was Forced to Feed Himself
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Imagine being a teenager whose dad works from home and whose mom is away at work every day. Would you be willing to take on the cooking responsibilities for your family during the day, or would you refuse?
In this story, one teenage girl is in this situation, and she really does not want to be responsible for making her dad lunch. She keeps avoiding this responsibility, but she’s wondering if that’s the wrong thing to do.
Let’s read the whole story to decide.
AITA for the way I’m treating my dad
When I was in middle school, my doctor warned my parents that I was overweight and need to start implementing more exercise into my lifestyle and eating more veggies.
I used to be a super active person back in elementary, but then I went to a STEM middle school with an extra workload and couldn’t seem to balance my time properly, so I started staying indoors more, which was fine for my parents as it meant their daughter was continuing to make top tier grades.
When my doctor first told my mom this, she agreed, but when we got home, nothing happened.
All I got was critical comments about my weight and reminders everytime I ate something sugary that with my weight issue, I would develop diabetes and heart problems. This is true, so I understand why they were saying it.
OP is keeping a secret from her parents.
Now I’m a rising senior, who, after several (I mean *several*) failed attempts to lose weight since middle school, has been slowly climbing down.
I’ve had to do this weight loss plan as secret as possible, because the last time I had shown that I was trying to get more active, my dad said “Look who’s finally exercising”, and that demotivated me quickly.
Just recently, my dad went to his doctor, and while he’s actually at a healthy weight (as per his doctor), he’s concerned about his cholesterol and sugar levels. He tells my mom, and seems it’s of our culture, she’s the one that makes all his food, so of course, she’s the one that is in charge of what he eats.
She’s included me in the plans for making his food.
She’s pretty upset with this new responsibility.
Due to Covid, my dad is at home all the time and she, as she’s in the health care field, is not home during the day.
I’ve been forced to help her do research, shop, and most importantly, prepare my dad’s food during the day and serving him.
All of this makes me furious.
Apparently my attitude seeped out.
She really doesn’t want to be responsible for cooking.
The day would usually go with my mom telling me what to make for my dad and reminding me to make sure my brothers ate and when afternoon would roll around, my dad would ask, “What’s for lunch”
I’d say I didn’t know.
He’d tell me to pull something together, and once he left upstairs waiting to be called for, I’d go back on my phone and scroll through social media.
Once maybe half an hour or so passed, he’d call me again and I’d feign memory loss.
Nobody likes to be rudely woken up.
I was exhausted today and asleep throughout the day.
My brother woke me for a bit to tell me my dad was asking about his food.
I ignored him and went back to sleep.
She heard her parents talking about her.
Some time passed and my dad wakes me up, angry, but I, as usual, feigned memory loss.
This evening he had a convo with my mom and I overheard him mentioning that I have an “attitude” whenever I have to serve him.
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Am I being a petty jerk?
Could she try being honest about not wanting to be responsible for cooking for her dad? She could use her schoolwork as an excuse and say she doesn’t have time. Why can’t one of her brothers, or even better, her dad, do the cooking?
Let’s see how Reddit responded.
This definitely seems like an accurate view of the situation.
This person has the same question I have.
Another person suggests talking to her parents.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman whose family wants her to spend way too much time redoing paintings to make them match.
Everyone is on her side.
She should not be responsible for cooking for her dad, but if she hasn’t spoken up for herself and told them she doesn’t want to cook for him, she needs to do that. She can’t just assume they know how she feels.
I completely understand why she’s upset. Her feelings are valid. Thankfully, she’s a senior in high school, so she doesn’t have to deal with her parents too much longer.
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