The relationship between parents and their children is delicate. Even the most solid and loving parent-child relationship can shatter instantly. A young adult on Reddit recently turned to social media for advice on their complicated relationship with their parents. Their feelings are hurt, and they are struggling to rebuild a once-strong relationship.
Many people chimed in about the difficulty of a parent-child relationship when trust has been broken. They also shared disbelief in the way the parents could so easily allow their child to lose trust in them.
More from CafeMom: My MIL Tried To Convince My Husband Our Son Isn’t His & Now I Want To Cut Her Off
The person really needed their parents.
“Growing up, my parents were amazing—very attentive and caring to me and my siblings. Except for one thing: they always kept their phones on ‘Do Not Disturb’ from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am. They told us it was because they valued their free time and sleep and didn’t want to be disturbed during the night,” the person’s post started.
The person said that the phone thing didn’t bother them “until I was in a situation where I really needed their help.” They explained that when they were 18, they worked as a server and finished work at 1 a.m. The teen then drove home alone after work.
They needed help, but couldn't get in touch with a parent.
“One night, I got into a car accident after work and was injured badly enough that I’ll never fully recover,” they explained, adding that they suffered permanent damage from the crash. “I was hoping that, just this once, my parents would answer.”
“I was scared and wanted someone close to me to be there. But, as expected, my call automatically went to voicemail, and they never picked up. That night, I also called other family members to ask them to contact my parents or come be with me.”
Only their grandparents were available to come to the hospital, they explained. By the time their parents found out about the accident, it was 7 a.m.
The OP was so hurt, they rejected their parents.
“By the time my parents arrived at the hospital, I was already out of surgery and awake. I never really felt their support because my grandparents had been there for me from the start,” the OP wrote.
“Since then, I haven’t been able to think of my parents as ‘amazing’ anymore, and I haven’t been able to forgive them for making me feel abandoned, even if I knew they wouldn’t pick up the phone in the middle of the night because they’d told me so beforehand.”
The Redditor went on to explain that they refused to let their parents do things like take them to physical therapy or doctor’s appointments. “Last month, after recovering enough to find a new job that accommodates my disabilities, I saved up and finally moved out of my parents’ house and went no-contact with them,” they revealed.
The OP's family thinks they're overreacting.
According to the OP, both their grandparents and parents think they’re “being too harsh.” The parents are now vowing to keep their phones on and have apologized. Their siblings have confirmed that they’ve made calls after 10 p.m. and have been able to get through. But for the OP, the damage is done.
“However, I feel like I can never forgive them for that one event. And while I feel bad for making my grandparents sad by not wanting to forgive my parents, I just can’t bring myself to do so after they made me feel so abandoned,” they wrote.
More from CafeMom: Kristin Cavallari Cut Her Dad Off Two Years Ago After He ‘Crossed the Line’ With Her Kids
People took the OP's side.
“As a parent, I just don’t understand this,” one person wrote. “My phone goes on to ‘do not disturb’ at 11pm. It allows calls through from my wife, kids and a few of my very close friends. For everyone else, all they have to do is call me twice and it’ll get through. I have gotten up at 3am to go fetch a cousin whose boyfriend was drunk. I would definitely be available 24/7 for my wife and kids.”
“OP clearly needs to work thru the resentment they feel towards parents,” a comment reads. “Everything they said is justified and understandable. It’s ok to have feelings around this very real life event [and] it’s going to take time to work thru them. Wishing OP all the best, this is so sad.”
Another person wrote: “So their kid was working till 1 am and they could peacefully sleep not knowing if they made it home okay. Not even being available for emergencys?! Besides this horrible accident there are so many other things that could have gone wrong. It just seems irresponsible not to be available after 10pm. What if you went to a party and needed help? Or a customer wouldn’t leave you alone and threaten you? I am glad that they have learned but I wouldn’t trust them anytime soon either.”
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
