When it’s your birthday, it’s obvious that you expect special treatment at least from your loved ones. Especially when you are a teen, it matters more somehow. I remember celebrating for a whole week for my sweet 16, and forcing my friends and family to do my bidding.
Unfortunately, not all families are as awesome as mine, including the original poster’s (OP). They have been forcing him to go to the same restaurant for all his birthday dinners because of his stepsiblings’ allergies, but he has had it with this place. Read on to find out what he did!
More info: Reddit
Just because someone in the family has an allergy doesn’t mean others should be banned from eating that food
Image credits: freepik / Freeepik (not the actual photo)
The poster’s stepsiblings have some serious allergies, so their family has always gone to this one allergy-friendly restaurant
Image credits: Horrathorne
Image credits: autorius / agency (not the actual photo)
But he hates the place as the food is not really appealing, and he’s also sick of being forced to go there for each of his birthday dinners
Image credits: Horrathorne
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He tried showing his mom and stepdad other options, but the lazy couple refused to budge and went to the same place for his 15th birthday
Image credits: Horrathorne
Sick of it all, he refused to go there for his 16th birthday, and now, the lazy parents are lashing out against him for his actions
This is a family conflict that erupted over allergies and a teen getting sidelined because of them. It started with OP’s stepdad moving in when he was just 7 and the discovery of the allergies that his stepsiblings have. Since he was a kid, he hadn’t understood how strict things would be until his mom and stepfather started restricting him from even eating certain foods.
Then came the allergy-friendly restaurant that the couple found, and it became their eternal place for all the special family meals, like birthdays and other occasions. The poster started despising this place because of the lack of options it had for him. I mean, can you really blame OP when he’s never able to eat a decent meal of his choice, even on his birthdays?
He decided to do something about it and looked for other allergy-friendly places that the family could visit for special occasions. Much to his dismay, the couple were too lazy to even look at his suggestions and just brushed him off. Last year, on his 15th birthday, he angrily told them that he was sick of the place and the food, but still, they just refused to budge.
Again, the focus was all on his stepsiblings’ allergies while he got completely sidelined. So, on his 16th birthday, a few days back, he finally put his foot down and refused to go. The ignorant parents still tried to make plans, but none of the family showed up, as they are well aware of how the teen feels. However, this backfired a little as now, he’s facing backlash from his mom and stepdad.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Research states that 40% of families in the U.S. are blended with at least one partner having a child from a previous relationship before marriage. However, despite this high number, experts note that such families still face challenges when it comes to adjusting to new members, just like with OP.
On top of being coaxed to integrate with the new family, he has also been sidelined as his mom and stepdad have always made everything about the other kids’ allergies. It’s awful to see that the couple is not even considering the places that the teen is suggesting. Folks online highly criticized this behavior and mentioned that this is blatant favoritism.
According to FamilyLife, “Playing favorites can wreak havoc in a stepfamily. Stepsibling conflict may be a sign of favoritism by one or both parents.” The poster doesn’t really mention whether her has bonded with his stepsiblings or not. However, if his parents keep favoring their allergies over his wishes constantly, then he might not be very eager to bond with them, will he?
Netizens also found it unacceptable that even in the house, OP doesn’t have freedom of choice, and they felt that this is just a toxic form of control, which research has proven to be unhealthy. Many of them called out his lazy parents and said it’s good that he stopped celebrating his special day with them. They said he should celebrate it with his friends who actually respect his choice.
If you were in his shoes, what would you do? Let us know in the comments!
Netizens felt bad that they were being so awful to the poster, and came up with ways he could navigate his troubles
