Photo: maxim ibragimov, Vadym Pastukh / Shutterstock
She thinks her family might never recover after what he’s done.
By Xiomara Demarchi — Written on May 31, 2023
A mom has kicked out her son and is unsure of how to continue with their relationship after he did something she considers unforgivable.
The devastated mother took to Reddit's r/AmITheA—hole subreddit — a forum where anonymous users seek advice on conflicts in their lives — to ask if she did the right thing after her 16-year-old son humiliated his sister.
Her son told his sister's friends that she wears dentures and used a secret video to embarrass her.
The mother explains that when her daughter was 8, she suffered from a “very rare mouth infection that just absolutely devastated her teeth and gums.”
“She ended up losing all her teeth in both sets and had to have some corrective work done just so she could have regular dentures. "Obviously, this was very traumatic for her, and she’s still in therapy to help cope to this day,” she wrote.
The mother notes that due to these experiences, her daughter has become “understandably very self-conscious” and not a soul apart from doctors and her family were aware of the procedures she underwent at such a young age.
“She doesn't want people to know,” the mother explained. “She’s very worried about people finding out, and won’t even take her teeth out in front of the rest of us. She’s worried someone will see.”
She adds that both her children seemed to have a good rapport with one another — up until recently. Despite having knowledge of his sister’s oral condition and the trauma associated with it, the 16-year-old secretly recorded her removing her dentures and shared the footage with all her friends when they were at her home. As a result, her friends have severed ties with her while the students in her school community have resorted to relentless bullying.
"Not only have they all turned on her, but half the school is teasing her nonstop, she even had to change her phone number because dozens of kids were texting her the most vile things imaginable," she explains.
Photo: Antonio Guillem / Shutterstock
Soon after the incident, the mother described never having felt “more ashamed of one of my children until that moment” and believes that the family might never be able to recover from such a situation, so she immediately sent her son packing to live with his grandparents who live two towns away.
The idea was to have their son live there until he turned eighteen, which both parents and grandparents have agreed to, but feel that the situation is too fresh to establish any long-term decisions.
Thus she took to Reddit, and the Redditors have spoken. They offered the conflicted mother a variety of responses on whether she had made the right call regarding her son.
Reddit users were quick to agree that what her son did was ‘vile', but some aren’t so sure the punishment fits the crime.
As one commenter pointed out, the son's actions warrant "a harsh punishment for what he did to his sister. However, I don't think the punishment issued fits the crime. You can't just throw your son away, and you CAN come back from this. It will take a lot of therapy for all of you, but it can happen.”
"She didn't just kick him out with nowhere to go," another user responded, adding that the mother did take her son's safety into consideration by leaving him in the care of responsible adults she trusts.
"I love that you have your daughter's back and apply serious consequences for your son," said another user who wasn't sure about whether the mom overreacted. "What I don't love is that you didn't mention how he reacted to the aftermath of what he has done and the consequences."
"I also think it is an overreaction to [permanently] disown your son and cut him from your life. He is still [your] son. Yes, terrible mistake. But still a minor and still your son. You should be working with him and not just be like this."
Overall, the mom was awarded an "everyone sucks here" rating by Reddit meaning that though she is not the a—hole, she didn't exactly do the right thing.
Xiomara Demarchi is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team covering human interest topics.