Divorced mom gets overwhelming support online after deciding not to put her life 'on hold' anymore

Mothers sacrifice a lot for their kids and family, but most of the time they do not get appreciated for their hard work and efforts. It's only natural if these moms start feeling like they are stuck in a neverending loop of doing unpaid labor and begrudgingly following through with familial obligations. A mother, u/No-Sandwich1817, candidly opened up about her struggles and the bold decision she finally took for herself to the Reddit community, where she received some surprising responses. 

The viral post was titled: "AITA for refusing to stop living my life for my kids." The mother began her narration by revealing how she got divorced a year ago and it was the best decision she had ever made. "I [was] basically a maid for the family, it was awful, not to mention [I] was working at the same time. Overall it has been a bit rough for the kids, with the youngest being 14 and the oldest being 17. We basically have a 50/50 split with custody. It's wonderful to have days off, so I have been able to explore new hobbies," she shared.

The woman went on to share that since her divorce, she has joined a models club where people built models of different objects and once a month, they assembled to show their creations. However, things hit a rough patch once again one day when her teen son expected her to drop her personal commitments to do something he'd kept until the last minute.

"My 17-year-old messed up this week, volunteered for a bake sale, didn't tell me and forgot to make cupcakes. I was about to leave for my meeting last night and he was panicking about not having it done. He asked me if I could do it and I told him no since I was leaving," the mom explained. "He was also leaving to hang out with his friend. This morning cupcakes were not made since I wasn't doing it. We got into a huge fight about me not helping him out. I wasn't putting my life on hold for a simple mistake he did. He left for his father's and my ex also got into an argument with me about it and called me a j*rk."

"If anyone has any ideas, I'm open for advice, I'm running out of time before college and he is with the man he learns this behavior half the time. The other two are willing to learn, but he won't give an inch," she concluded her post.

Even though it's obvious the mother was getting treated unfairly, she still wanted thoughts and opinions from fellow netizens about how to handle the situation with her son. Reddit users had nothing but positive words of encouragement for this mom who bravely decided to live a life outside just being a "maid" for her family, who barely cared about her.

u/EvilOfOdd wrote: "Your son needs to learn how to prioritize his responsibilities over his wants (he could have canceled his plans with the friend) and learn that neglecting his responsibilities has consequences." u/bigcup321 exclaimed: "He chose to hang out with his friend when he had plenty of time to make muffins, and somehow it’s your fault they didn’t get made? How can your ex also think it’s your fault? That doesn’t make any sense!"

u/ibe404error criticized the son as well and commented: "Kids gotta learn to be responsible at some point. His father isn't doing any better by babying him. Does he always take your son's side no matter the argument? Teach the kid to learn to juggle his own stuff." The mother received a few comments advising her to reflect on her failed marriage and if "she is projecting her own trauma on her kids or not."

At the end of the day, a majority of Reddit users sided with the mom who has finally decided to take some time out for herself and not bear the burden of the mistakes made by her kids.