Son tells mom his life would be better off without her, she decided to comply

Parents usually want what is best for their child. At times, they are forced to practice tough love when nothing else works. A 35-year-old woman, whose Reddit profile has now been deleted, found herself in a similar situation when her 14-year-old son started acting out. She was forced to take tough measures to make her son talk to her. She took to Reddit to ask people whether she had done the right thing.

"I do everything I can for my son and make sure he has everything he needs. Lately, he has been acting out a little at home and school, so I decided to sit him down to try and figure out what was happening," the mom explained. The son is the woman's only child and his parents are still together. "I was concerned if maybe it had something to do with me or his father, but he wouldn't budge." She even asked him if something was wrong at school and if he needed her help. "I was scared there would be bullying at his school and I was prepared to transfer him to another school if necessary," the mom shared.

"He said there was no bullying and he had no issues, he just felt like '14 year-olds should act out a little,'" the woman revealed. The mom made it clear that such behavior was unacceptable at her house. The behavior was swearing at his parents and teachers, among other things. "I tried so hard to discipline him as much as possible. "After a little fussing with my son, he said, 'My life would be better if I didn't have a mother,'" she said. The mom was quite hurt, but she went on with her day. "I prepared dinner for me and his father. Not for my son. When my son smelt food, he came downstairs and asked where his was. I responded, 'I made dinner for me and your dad. Since life is easier without a mom, there's some heatable food in the freezer,'" she continued.

"He stormed to his room and did not come out until today morning. Normally, I would take him to school, but today I did not," the mom expressed. "He came downstairs expecting his breakfast that I make for him every morning, but there wasn't any. He said, 'Where's my breakfast?' I responded, 'Your mother would normally do that for you. But if life is easier without one, you'll need to prepare your own breakfast. Also, take the bus to and from school.'" The son swore, made himself some cereal, took the bus and called his grandmother, the woman's mother-in-law. "I received many calls saying I was a horrible mother, that I was starving my child and I was being petty," the mother disclosed.

The woman wanted her child to feel more grateful but wondered if she was actually being petty. She later posted many updates and shared that everything was fine between them. He was "acting out" due to the bad influence at his school. People took to the comments to support the mom. u/Shrimp-34 wrote, "It's not like you actually deprived him of anything. He still had access to food and a way to get to school. It was definitely petty, but he wasn't harmed in any way and maybe sometimes you have to fight fire with fire." u/Enough-Classroom-400 commented, "I don't think she's being petty. She gave her son exactly what he asked for. At best, it is malicious compliance. I would also call mother-in-law and tell her to stay out of your family's business." u/MediumAlternative372 remarked, "Cautionary tale 'be careful what you wish for' in action. Not bad parenting and it seems you got the message across."