Feeling neglected by a parent is one of the worst feelings a child can have.

But when you see that parent move on, and treat their new family with the love and respect that you had always craved from them?

That’s a type of cruelty that no child on this Earth should be subjected to.

Check it out!

AITA for describing my mom’s second marriage and her younger kids as her do over family?

I (17f) lost my dad when I was 5. My parents were married but I remember dad being more present in my early memories than mom.

And when my dad died, I know that my mom wasn’t there for me. She left me to raise myself or she roped in some extended family to take care of me, usually grandparents.

But she wouldn’t always do that and I was sort of forced to become independent and more mature in some ways to raise myself.

Like I had to make sure I ate, did homework, got to school on time all without my mom helping me.

The most she’d do is make some food but she wouldn’t even tell me she had. I usually had to search the fridge to find it.

And she said that even now that she was older, her Mom really wasn’t involved in her life.

My grandparents were the ones who celebrated my birthdays with me and they were the ones who typically went to my school for parent conferences.

My mom doesn’t know me. She couldn’t tell you what classes I take in high school, what my favorite food or color is, who my friends and best friends are, nothing.

Five years ago she met her husband Sam and pretty quickly, like before they were living together, my mom got pregnant.

So Sam moved in and my mom married him. Her was born 4 years ago and her son followed along 2 years ago.

Sadly, she noticed right away the difference in how her Mom treated her step-siblings.

And right away I see the difference in how my mom is with them. She knows them, she loves them, she dedicates time to them, she advocates for them.

All the things I do not remember her ever doing for me. She eats with them and plays with them and she takes her daughter to preschool every day and even takes her for a treat after.

It sucks to see. I didn’t get a good mom but I see she had her in it to be a good mom and chose not to be.

Sam isn’t as good as my dad was though. But he’s still better than my mom ever was to me.

So when her Mom came to her because she needed a babysitter, OP didn’t exactly jump at the chance.

Last week my mom asked me to babysit for her and Sam and I said no. My mom was shocked and asked me why I wouldn’t babysit.

I told her I had work and I had plans with friends.

She told me she would have expected me to want time with the kids.

And then she dropped a bombshell…

I told her I don’t want time with her do over family. She asked me what that meant and I said Sam and the kids are her do over family.

She is a better mom to her younger kids and she and Sam have created their own perfect little family with them and their kids. But she was never that for me.

I told her I have zero interest in helping her out with the do over family and I pointed out that it was the most she had said to me in years.

She normally doesn’t talk to me or include me in anything and the only reason she was speaking to me is she wanted something.

But Mom played dumb, and demanded she take her comment back.

She was all “how dare you say that about Sam and the kids” and she told me I had an awful attitude and she hopes the kids never pick up on how I feel about them and their dad.

She told me they deserve better than being described that way and she told me I had some nerve to be jealous that her kids have a happy family life.

I laughed and told her she only cared about them and that was clear. She called me a nasty little jerk.

AITA?

Sometimes the truth hurts! I actually can’t believe the nerve of asking your neglected daughter to watch the kids you actually care about.

Reddit felt for her and the pain her Mom put her through.

And this Mom wanted to give her a big hug.

This user suggested she ask her Mom the answers to the questions she put in her post, and see if she could defend herself then.

Finally this user said she never brought her step-siblings into the argument.

It’s heartbreaking to read a story like this.

Hopefully OP finds a support system in her chosen family.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.