Daughter cuts off parents as soon as she turns eighteen after years of neglect

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 28, 2023. It has since been updated.

Parents can sometimes hurt their kids, intentionally or not. While accidental harm might be forgivable, neglecting your child is inexcusable. Emotional neglect can severely impact a child's development. That's why, when a child chooses to cut ties with neglectful parents, it deserves understanding and support. This is the story of a daughter who stood up for herself and distanced from parents who never made her a priority. It reminds us of the importance of standing up for ourselves, even when it's difficult.

Reddit is a go-to for gauging public opinion, and u/Advanced-Cat2288 used it to seek advice with an AITA (Am I The Asshole) post. They shared that they laughed at their sister after her daughter cut ties with her, believing the reason was justified.

So here's how the situation unfolded: u/Advanced-Cat2288's sister had never been a great parent, let alone a good one. She married into a rich family so that she could get the life she wanted. She then went on to conceive a child because she believed that that was what she was supposed to do next. But then, she missed the next step entirely. She missed out on showering her child with basic warmth and kindness, let alone any love or pampering. u/Advanced-Cat2288 said, "Truthfully, she never looked after her daughter for a single day." They further shared how disheartening it was to see their sister go out to parties even on days like Christmas, and leave her little daughter with their family since nannies didn't work on Christmas.

They said that everyone kept warning her about the lack of relationship she had with her daughter. "As she got older, my sister would talk to her but it was never about things she liked. It was always things like, she'd book a trip to Disney for her birthday," they said. But apparently, their niece had been terrified of theme parks since she was small. It is just disheartening to see her mother not know such a basic thing about her child.

Anyway, this is when the most predictable thing happened. They stated: "My niece has just turned eighteen. She got her inheritance money from her grandpa and is set to start college this year. My dad drove her up to her college dorm a couple of days ago actually. She's doing well. As soon as she got there she sent her parents a text informing them that she was cutting them off and to no longer contact them."

As hurtful as it may sound, they made their bed and it was their time to lie in it. The Reddit user said, "No one is surprised - not even her dad. No one besides my sister. She's been complaining since it happened. She was incredibly upset. But we tried to warn her - if you don't start bonding with her she won't care for you and all that."

When their sister did finally reach out to them to vent her feelings, they just laughed at her. She got offended and complained about their behavior to their mother, who sided with her daughter and asked them to apologize to her. The user nevertheless mentioned that the whole family had warned their sister of this day and that they were incredibly happy for their niece. All they had to say in the end about apologizing to their sister was, "I haven't, but probably will. I thought I'd come and post it to Reddit to see the general public's idea." The verdict of most users was that the Redditor's behavior was understandable, they weren't wrong to laugh and they were happy for the niece.

That said, the real hero here is the daughter. No matter how estranged one may be from their parents, cutting off from them permanently can be painful. But she did it anyway, to make her world better and kinder. She chose not to allow anyone, even her mother, to make her feel like she wasn't good enough to be cared for. Her behavior was commendable as one needs courage to do what she did.