Many of us will be all-too-familiar with the bodily changes that came with puberty.

In particular, a tendency to gain a little (or a lot of) weight while the body is starting to crave the food it needs to develop.

How should you handle this situation as a parent wanting the best for their child? It’s a delicate situation if you don’t want to ruin their self-esteem entirely.

In this story a father encourages his son to eat healthily while also providing him the clothing and sustenance he needs to grow.

But when he found out how the child’s mother and step-father were treating his kid, he was furious.

Read on to find out what caused him to blow up.

AITA for telling my son’s stepdad that he’s not/never will be a father to him and starting a screaming fight?

I have split custody of my son, Marcus (12) with my ex, Lena.

Lena and I split up shortly after he was born. We and stayed friends, but have been less communicative since she married Erik four years ago.

We have had disagreements – I don’t approve of certain things they’ve been doing and they think I spoil him – but until recently we managed to keep things civil.

His son is his pride and joy.

Marcus is a great kid and I love him.

He’s smart, funny, and caring, and he’s taught me so much about being a human. Having him saved my life and changed it for the better.

He’s also more or less my only family, so I really treasure him and our time together.

Recently he’s gotten chubby and depressed, which I only mention because it’s relevant.

Read on to find out how this amicable family situation deteriorated.

I was concerned over my son gaining weight, but I didn’t want to do much other than making sure we eat healthy. He’s still active in sports, which I encourage, and a lot will change with puberty.

His mom and stepdad are upset though, and I now know that they had Marcus on a restricted diet and are putting a lot of pressure on him to lose weight.

At first it didn’t seem like much but it became more unreasonable.

Before this incident, I got in trouble with Erik for buying Marcus a size up in clothes, since Erik thought that he should trim down to fit his old ones better.

I told him that I wasn’t going to apologise for giving my son pants, he never responded.

Uh-oh. This was just the start of Erik overstepping.

Last week, when I came to pick him up, Marcus was still packing his bag. Lena invited me inside for coffee and we were making small talk when I heard shouting.

Apparently Marcus had been hiding snacks in his room.

Erik found candy bars in his overnight bag (which they no longer allow in the house), and pulled them out to show to us as evidence.

He was furious with Erik’s reaction.

I got upset when he called Marcus names and told him he “wouldn’t be fat if he weren’t so greedy”.

I told him to treat my son with respect.

Marcus went to the car, and things deteriorated further.

I called him a bully, and told Erik that he is not Marcus’s father.

A lot of expletives got thrown around.

Yikes. Let’s see how this situation continued to escalate.

I didn’t hear from Lena until later when she texted to tell me that she was furious with me.

I was still reeling from everything so the conversation is a blur.

I tried to tell her I was sorry, but that I couldn’t understand why she would allow him to treat Marcus that way.

She told me that while this was “a bit much”, Marcus broke their rules and Erik was right that he should lose weight.

She also told me that I don’t know anything about the “disrespect” Marcus gives them, that I only experience the “fun parts of being a parent”, and accused me of encouraging bad behaviour that she has to deal with.

He’s still upset by what happened.

I had a talk with Marcus and told him I love him and he has nothing to be ashamed of.

He seems better, but I’m not looking forward to taking him back to his mom’s home.

I know I made things worse and I should have removed myself from the situation, but I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t at least stand up for my son.

AITA?

Erik is totally out of line here – it’s no wonder Marcus is feeling so depressed about his weight.

His parents should be encouraging him to be healthy, not abusing him for not losing weight, and neglecting his need for clothes that fit.

Let’s find out what the folks on Reddit had to say about this.

This person agreed and noted that Marcus was just going through puberty.

However, while noting that Erik’s treatment of Marcus was unacceptable, this person suggested that the father could have handled the situation with much more maturity.

And this person thought the dad was in the wrong – but only for apologizing.

There is no excuse for treating a child like this.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.