In the following four stories, parents mistreat their children, with some opting to kick them out of their family homes, but little do they know that the tables will turn. Luckily, all the children managed to thrive despite the abuse they endured and now have the upper hand.
Father Needs Son’s Help after Bringing Him up in an Abusive Childhood
In 2019, an individual who identified as Asian turned to Reddit’s “AITA” forum to share a narrative. Recounting his upbringing, the man revealed that his father’s treatment during his childhood was marked by being frequently kicked out of his home.
An older man scolding a younger man while outside | Source: Shutterstock
The family’s financial struggles led them to reside in a subpar townhouse in an unfavorable part of town. Following the common stereotype associated with Asian fathers, the narrator’s dad exhibited extreme strictness regarding academic performance.
A miserable teenager crying in an abandoned spot | Source: Shutterstock
This pattern continued until the age of 16 when a friend extended the courtesy of allowing OP to stay overnight. Each time he was expelled, he would eventually return, apologize, and be permitted to re-enter the home, with him revealing:
“[My father] kicked me out at 18 and I didn’t come back home.”
A boy sitting on the ground looking at the camera | Source: Pexels
OP’s mother passed away at the time—a poignant event that brought about a series of unexpected encounters. Amid the atmosphere of mourning and reflection, his father made an appearance at his son’s home, bearing the weight of past grievances. It appeared to be an attempt at reconciliation for the turbulent upbringing that had marked OP’s formative years.
A young couple on their wedding day | Source: Shutterstock
Despite initial perceptions of genuineness, a lingering skepticism arose because OP’s dad had faced his own share of hardships. The closure of his convenience store seven years prior and the deterioration of his pension painted a complex backdrop to the situation.
An older man is pictured sitting outside a house | Source: Unsplash
Upon returning, a sleeping bag was flung unceremoniously onto the lawn—an act loaded with the history of past rejections and a symbol of his dad’s actions. An essential facet of the narrative was inadvertently omitted in the initial retelling. Over time, the father had sought to make amends through sporadic financial offerings sent via mail.
These modest sums, accumulating to around $1500, remained tucked away in the recesses of OP’s closet, which he intended to return at his mother’s funeral reception. Upon the passing of his mother, his wife and friends reacted to his decision.
A man posing wearing a suit | Source: Pexels
His wife encouraged him to let go, emphasizing that despite his father’s strictness, he had always allowed him back and acted out of love and the desire for his betterment. On the other hand, his friends, who shared a similar cultural background, downplayed the severity of his past punishments, suggesting that his father’s actions were well-intentioned, calling him a “disrespectful son.”
A proud man posing in a suit and tie | Source: Pexels
Engulfed in contemplation, the individual found himself grappling with conflicting emotions. He questioned whether he was irrational or justified in his feelings, seeking the opinion of the Reddit community. Readers resoundingly supported OP’s stance, viewing his father’s actions as emotionally abusive due to his history of expulsions during childhood.
Redditor Gets Revenge on Cruel Mother in the Most Cunning Way
After getting kicked out by her mother at 16, a young girl lived at her father’s place and later married and moved in with her husband. She wrote a Reddit post describing how her mother mistreated her when they were still living together.
An older woman scolding a young girl | Source: Shutterstock
The woman recalled how her mother told her she hated her before asking that she leave the house. Back then, the teenager couldn’t do much except follow her mother’s instructions. Meanwhile, her mother never treated her older brother that way. In fact, she behaved nicely with him.
A young girl sitting by the side of a road | Source: Shutterstock
Her personal life was in a downward spiral as her husband developed medical complications due to obesity. Despite the doctors telling him to control his diet, he ate what he liked and soon became bed-bound. The Redditor recalled that her mother’s husband died in early 2022, leaving his wife in a bad financial situation.
Things went downhill to the point that the bank seized her house. Broke and homeless, the older woman turned to her daughter, whom she had mistreated and ignored all her life. Despite not sharing a good bond with her, the parent thought her daughter would support her during her difficult time.
A woman standing outside a door | Source: Shutterstock
The Redditor lived with her husband in a two-bedroom house, where one of the bedrooms was her husband’s office. She had turned her basement into an art studio, and her living room couch was where her cats slept.
It was a regular day for OP when her mother suddenly showed up at her doorstep, asking her for shelter. The Redditor was shocked at her mother’s audacity to ask her for a favor after mistreating her all her life, saying:
“I don’t know why, in god’s good name, my mom thought I would be the one to come to.”
An older woman looking sad while staring at the floor | Source: Pexels
OP thought her brother’s house was better for her mother because he had a spare bedroom. However, when she saw her mother at her doorstep, she knew it was a golden opportunity she couldn’t resist, writing:
“I told her she could live with us if, and only if, she decided to follow the house rules.”
A woman reading through a book | Source: Pexels
Among the house rules she enumerated to her mother, she restricted her from using electronics after 6 p.m. and said she should sleep by 7:30 p.m. If the parent refused to power off her electronic devices at the given time, the Redditor threatened to confiscate them and sell them in the next yard sale.
She also threatened to take her clothes for the week if she didn’t sleep on time. Besides that, the Redditor restricted her mother’s shower time to five minutes and asked her to do all the house chores. OP threatened to restrict her mother’s meals for the day if she got up and the chores weren’t done.
An older woman looking depressed while sitting on a bench | Source: Pexels
The woman also instructed her mother to always be alert and do whatever she and her husband said. She gave her the duty to cook one meal daily and threatened not to let her eat if the food wasn’t cooked to her taste.
Moreover, she said she would control who her mother talked to by reading all her messages, mails, and emails. She also asked her to pay for gas and drive her wherever she wanted. After stating all the rules, the woman threatened to kick her mother out of the house if she displeased her.
An older woman looking upset | Source: Pexels
She said she would drop her mother at a gas station for her brother to pick her up. OP also only would allow her mother to take some of her belongings from her house. When the older woman heard her daughter’s terms and conditions, she called her a “monster” and said she was being “inhumane.”
A woman walking with a trolley bag | Source: Shutterstock
However, the Redditor believed the conditions she gave were fair because that is how her mother made her live as a teenager. So instead of staying with her daughter, the woman left her house without saying where she was going. The Redditor hoped her mother would find a park bench to live on.
Man’s Parents Kick Him Out Not Realizing They’d Need Him Later in Life
A Reddit user expressed on the platform how his parents expected him to conform to their plans regarding his career. The only acceptable profession in his family was to become a doctor. They came from a long lineage of medical professionals, and his parents expected OP to continue the legacy.
A picture of various medical professionals | Source: Shutterstock
However, at age 17, he informed his parents that he wouldn’t undertake the profession. Instead, he wished to pursue a social media and acting career, along with other small business endeavors, but his parents disapproved of his plan. They believed he was up to no good and retaliated by kicking him out of the family home.
They subsequently lost contact for 17 years, and his family relocated to the United Kingdom so his siblings could become doctors. To his parents’ delight, OP’s older brother got into a rare, competitive surgery profession. He became a neurosurgeon specializing in spinal tumor removal and diagnosis.
A team of surgeons at work | Source: Shutterstock
During the COVID-19 pandemic, OP’s family informed him that they were returning to Sydney, where he lived. The decision was made so that OP’s older brother could pursue a job that paid $750,000 annually. Within two years, the Redditor and his family reconnected, but his parents never asked him about his career.
OP believed they assumed he lived an average life, and they weren’t wrong in that his acting career never took off. However, he landed an alternative career as an investment banker and made partner at the bank where he worked.
Two businessmen shaking hands | Source: Shutterstock
One day, OP and his siblings accompanied their parents to go house-hunting. It soon dawned on them that they couldn’t afford to buy a home in the communities they wished to live in. Despite being doctors, homes in northern Sydney cost above $20 million, which was too much for them.
They eventually called it a day and asked to see OP’s place before heading out for dinner. He obliged and welcomed them to his home. When his parents arrived there, their first thought was he was renting a room in the gorgeous house.
Three people discussing a house by the door of an empty room | Source: Shutterstock
They asked him how much rent he paid, and he corrected them, saying he owned the place, leaving them in disbelief. The couple was furious, accusing their son of lying to them for years and meeting up with them to rub his “probably illegally gained” wealth in their faces.
They then declared that they would be living with him rather than his older brother since they couldn’t be seen living in a worse house than his. The man scoffed and reminded them that they chose to support their two other children, not him. He also told them they had a better chance of living with his neighbors than him.
The gorgeous double-story house | Source: Shutterstock
At that point, his parents threatened to cut him out of their will, to which he shrugged, unbothered. “I reminded them of the fact that they can’t even afford to buy in my area, so their will and assets don’t really matter to me,” the man explained.
After their unpleasant conversation, OP’s parents refused to talk to him. His siblings told him that he should have proactively told them about his financial situation, but he argued he didn’t need to, as his LinkedIn profile was public, but they never bothered to search.
An upset man sitting at a table with his hand covering his face | Source: Pexels
However, OP still questioned whether he was harsh for what he did. He didn’t feel obliged to help his parents after they cut him off for years, only showed interest in him after realizing he was wealthy. Luckily, most social media users were on his side, giving him some peace of mind.
Young Man’s Mother and Her Boyfriend Kick Him Out of the Family Home, Later Need His Assistance
In January 2024, an anonymous male poster turned to Reddit’s “AITA” forum to pen his story. The day after his graduation, OP’s mother and her boyfriend delivered the unexpected news that, now as an adult, he had to find a place of his own.
A young man wearing a graduation cap and gown | Source: Getty Images
OP’s relationship with his mother experienced a significant shift when her new boyfriend arrived. Despite his efforts to make a good impression and to ensure his mother’s happiness, the older man appeared to harbor an inexplicable resentment.
According to OP, his mother’s boyfriend “convinced my mom to start charging me rent” because he had a part-time job while schooling, even though the older man was jobless and living off his mother. The intrusions escalated as the boyfriend entered OP’s room, went through personal belongings, and used items without asking.
A middle-aged couple looking at each other with love | Source: Shutterstock
The older man’s disregard for OP reached a breaking point when he damaged the young man’s laptop, having used it without permission. Despite the blatant invasion of privacy, OP’s mother chose to remain oblivious to her boyfriend’s wrongdoings and consistently sided with him.
When the young man expressed his discontent it led to heated confrontations, with the parent consistently reprimanding him instead of talking to her lover. The boyfriend surprisingly seemed content with OP’s mother kicking him out of the house.
A man working on laptop | Source: Pexels
OP had to endure a precarious living situation due to having insufficient funds to secure a place. He relied on the hospitality of his friends who let him sleep on their couches. However, they gradually grew weary of the arrangement and there were times when OP had to be homeless.
However, someone in his network facilitated a second job opportunity, giving him a lifeline. OP worked diligently and managed to gather some savings. After enduring several challenging months without a stable living arrangement, OP finally moved into a new residence at the beginning of January 2024.
A young man laying down in the sun with his eyes closed | Source: Shutterstock
A few days before his post went up, OP received an unexpected call from his mother’s boyfriend, who informed him that the parent had suffered a stroke. In a rather audacious move, the boyfriend attempted to guilt OP into returning home to provide support.
An ailing woman in hospital with a man beside her | Source: Shutterstock
Undeterred, the young man stood his ground, firmly declining the request. He explained how busy his adult life was and emphasized the impracticality of taking time off. With a finality to his tone, OP hung up, choosing to maintain the boundaries he had painstakingly established.
A man using his phone while sitting at a table | Source: Shutterstock
In the end, OP was left wondering, “AITA for not wanting to go back home to take care of my sick mom” after she and her partner set him out on his own the day after his high school graduation. The online community responded strongly to OP’s narrative, unleashing a wave of support. Numerous commenters resonated with his plight, unanimously declaring him “NTA.”
A stressed young man talking on the phone | Source: Shutterstock
In a similar story, parents who disowned their daughter years ago demanded she give her inheritance to her brother. Click here to read how it played out.
