He Had a Falling Out with His Brother—So He Refused to Be the One to Reach Out and Smooth Things Over
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It’s like a showdown in the Old West…
Two siblings at odds with each other.
Both are stubborn and don’t want to blink first.
Who will be the first to reach out and squash it?
If you have any brothers or sisters, chances are that you’ve been in this situation before.
And the guy who wrote today’s story is in the thick of it with his brother right now.
Take a look at what he had to say.
AITA for not reaching out and making up with younger brother?
“I (30s M) have two younger brothers. My relationship with the youngest has always been rocky.
There is a recurring pattern: a disagreement escalates, he gets very emotional, communication shuts down, and afterwards he ignores whoever he is angry with.
Eventually someone reaches out and things go back to normal without really resolving anything.
He sounds pretty immature…
What bothers me is the double standard. He wants to be treated as a strong, independent adult, but during conflicts there seems to be little room for his own contribution. Someone else wronged him, so his reaction becomes justified.
A while ago an incident with another relative escalated badly. Both behaved in ways I disagreed with. I told my brother I had experienced a very similar situation with him before, where I felt his reaction was completely disproportionate.
That did not go over well….
What a drama queen!
Since then he has cut contact with me and initially our other brother too. We were blocked on social media and actively avoided. He told me he needed space and no contact, so I respected that.
Our other brother eventually reached out. I haven’t.
I’ve since heard that this goes deeper and that he feels excluded from the family. I sympathize with that, but I also think some of those feelings come from expectations the rest of us cannot realistically solve for him.
My brothers have done plenty together without me and I’ve never seen that as rejection.
He is getting married this year and my partner and I are not invited. My parents are heartbroken about the family being divided.
I’m open to talking and apologizing for my own part. I don’t think I handled everything perfectly.
He’s gonna sit back and wait…
But I don’t want to initiate reconciliation. He asked for no contact, so when he wants that to change, I feel he should tell me.
I’m also tired of the pattern where he cuts someone off and eventually the other person reaches out just to restore peace. Nothing gets resolved and it happens again.
I’ve always been expected to be the sensible one, and seeing my parents hurt makes me question myself.
But I don’t think being “the mature one” should always mean repairing a relationship after someone else chose to cut contact.
AITA for waiting for him to initiate contact this time?”
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Readers shared their thoughts.
This person said he’s NTA.
Another individual agreed.
This Reddit user spoke up.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a kis who cooks and pays rent, so doesn’t think they should have to do the dishes, too.
And another reader shared their thoughts.
Well, this might not end anytime soon…
They both sound pretty hard-headed about this.
I wonder how it will end…
Sibling rivalry is alive and well, folks!
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