As children, it’s ingrained in our heads that our parents are a team, so it’s no secret that when this team splits, it can be painful for the kids. Watching your parents with someone else can be tough too, but you would never imagine them dating someone younger than you, right? Wrong!
The 24-year-old Reddit user, THROWRAdeli9, is completely disgusted as her 62-year-old father started dating a 23-year-old girl. He even brought her to a family barbeque and made things weird for everyone, leaving the original poster (OP) at a loss!
More info: Reddit
Divorce can be tough even on adult children and seeing your parents with someone else can be equally difficult
Image credits: pressfoto / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster's parents were on friendly terms during separation, but her dad took it hard after the divorce and started frequenting bars and going on blind dates
Image credits: THROWRAdeli9
Image credits: DanielHernandez1976 / Freepik (not the actual photo)
One day, he told them that he is in a new relationship and showed them his new girlfriend, who is only 23 years old, even younger than the poster
Image credits: THROWRAdeli9
Image credits: prostooleh / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster and her mom are weirded out by it and when he brought his girlfriend to a family BBQ, everyone else also found it weird, but he didn't even notice
Image credits: THROWRAdeli9
The poster is uncomfortable with it all and doesn't even feel like meeting her dad anymore as she knows he will talk about his girlfriend
Today’s story might be a little difficult to stomach, just as it was for the original poster (OP). What happened was that her parents were on friendly terms during their separation, but her dad took the divorce pretty hard and started frequenting bars and going on blind dates.
While the poster and her mom were both concerned about this, nothing could prepare them for what happened a month ago. He told them that he was in a relationship and showed them a picture of his new girlfriend who, shockingly, turned out to be a 23-year-old girl, a year younger than even the poster!
He couldn’t stop talking about her and claimed that she had an “old soul”, but when the ex-wife expressed how absurd it sounded, he took offense and said she was an adult and it was all legal. He also added that if she couldn’t support him then it was her problem, and they didn’t know how to feel about it all.
The poster knew that it was legal, yet she couldn’t get over how uncomfortable it made her. He even invited his girlfriend to a family BBQ, which made things weird for everyone present, but he didn’t even notice it. OP felt that the young woman looked childlike and nervous, but her father kept telling everyone how great their relationship was and kept kissing her.
The poster is at a complete loss and doesn’t know what to do, and all she knows is that she thinks it is very weird. Now, she even avoids meeting him because she knows that he will keep talking about his girlfriend and she’ll be reminded how weird it was at the BBQ. Even her mom doesn’t like it, but really, what can they do about it?
Image credits: SkelDry / Freepik (not the actual photo)
While divorce is on the rise, it has also been observed that gray divorce (divorce after 50) has grown to over 36%. While her parents' divorce might not be that unusual for the poster, the girlfriend younger than her might be quite horrifying for her.
One study suggests that adult children of divorcing parents may grapple with shifting family dynamics, feelings of betrayal, and concerns about their parents' well-being. Another study states that these adult children might face symptoms of psychological distress.
The poster might already be impacted by the divorce, but facing this additional issue on top of it must be a lot to handle and many Redditors sympathized with her. They said that even they wouldn’t be able to handle it if something similar happened to them, and honestly, it can be difficult to digest for anyone.
American author Jill Filipovic points out in an article, “Older men who date young girls are indeed looking for someone who will admire them, who they can mold, and who will make them feel sophisticated and important.”
However, Psych Central states that sometimes it’s love, other times, it’s actually the energy, appearance, and life perspective of a younger woman that may be attractive to an older man, and the intention may not be a healthy one.
While we can’t understand the intention of her father in this case, we can definitely understand what the poster must be feeling. A few netizens joked that she should fake date a very old man and see dad's reaction, while others suggested she tell her dad how uncomfortable she felt. If you were in her shoes, what would you do? Let us know in the comments!
Folks online sympathized with the poster and many advised her to go to her father about how uncomfortable it made her
