There’s a famous quote by an author that goes, “You can never give up on family, no matter how tempting they make it.” I must say, I disagree. Sometimes, the best solution is to cut off your relatives if they are making life difficult for you.
Even this woman decided to go no contact with her toxic family after they planned a trip to Hawaii, and then to Disney without her. What hurt her more was that they also excluded her 9-year-old daughter, who would have loved to go. Scroll down to find out how the conflict actually happened!
More info: Reddit
Just because someone is "family" doesn't mean that we have to tolerate everything they make us go through
Image credits: taylor gregory / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
The poster's stepmom always mistreated her since she was the eldest daughter who remembered her late mom, but the other siblings were loved
Image credits: Separate_Incident_65
Image credits: benzoix / Freepik (not the actual photo)
After years of cruelty, what really hurt the poster was that they went on a trip to Disney, excluding her and her 9-year-old daughter
Image credits: Separate_Incident_65
Image credits: prostooleh / Freepik (not the actual photo)
When she confronted the couple over this exclusion, her dad just brushed off her concerns, which further added insult to her injury
Image credits: Separate_Incident_65
Frustrated by their behavior, the poster went no-contact with her parents, but she found her childhood nanny, who was more of a "family" to her
Today, we dive into a family drama as the original poster (OP) tells us how she cut off her relatives permanently. It all started when her dad (Rick) married Pat after her late mom, and the stepmom treated her horribly for being the oldest and still “remembering her mother.” In fact, the cruel woman also fed lies to Rick and blamed OP for things she didn’t even do.
Also, the poster’s parents treated Pat’s adopted kid better than her, and this mistreatment only grew with time. However, what really hurt the poster the most was when they excluded her and her 9-year-old daughter from family trips. First, they went to Hawaii and then Disneyland, which she felt her kid would have really enjoyed going to.
It must be heartbreaking for OP to see all her siblings and their kids having fun on the trip, so she called out her dad and stepmom. Well, Pat didn’t even respond, and Rick just brushed it off, claiming they had moved away. The poster reasoned that they were planning to visit anyway, and she could have adjusted the dates according to the trip, but alas, it was already done.
Frustrated by their response, OP finally decided that it was enough, and told the couple to enjoy their life before going no contact. However, the silver lining to the story is that she got in touch with a woman who was the poster’s nanny. This lady also knew her mom, and when she heard what had happened, they decided to take the little kid to Disney together!
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Although it ended positively for the poster, we can’t deny how much trauma the poor woman had to go through. An expert narrated that, “Toxic family dynamics can follow you for many years if your life is intruded by a step-parent who is uncaring about your psychological and emotional needs. It can cause psychological regression among children.”
The poster must have had a rough time growing up, but things didn’t change later either. Research suggests that being excluded by family increases the likelihood of someone feeling as though they don’t belong, experiencing low self-esteem, and lacking their sense of control. In fact, exclusion is akin to experiencing physical pain, as the same parts of the brain get activated.
OP also claimed that her parents didn’t love her daughter either. We know how important it is to have caring grandparents. Studies also stress that “Grandparents’ involvement during childhood is positively linked to emotional development, cognitive functioning, and social adjustment in early adulthood.” Sadly, OP’s kid is missing out on this incredible bond.
Amidst all this toxicity, it was really nice to know that the poster found her nanny, who acted more like “family” than her blood relatives. Since the story is a few years old, I really hope the mean couple didn’t trouble her more, but let her live in peace instead. What are your thoughts about the story? Feel free to drop them down in the comments below!
Netizens said that going no-contact was the best decision, as her daughter deserved better than the toxic grandparents
