Mother tells 16-year-old daughter she's not "celebrated" because she doesn't do anything worth celebrating, teen gets even more upset: '[She] said she feels like it’s unfair we celebrate [her brother]'

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Mar 27, 2025 12:00 AM EDT

Every kid is going to be different, as much as each of us are individuals. But possibly even greater since the way each of us learn is as different again as our personalities—as is the rate and manner in which we mature and develop.

No two people are the same and no two teens are experiencing the same thing.

So it's hard as parents to make blanket rules and know when to make exceptions and considerations to those rules in order to give each kid the support and guidance—and hard lessons—that they need.

Without a doubt, it's a hard lesson to learn—but success and achievement take effort. For some we were taught in our generation that skills were inherent and something you either had or you didn't—and that couldn't be farther from the truth. Sure, some people have a knack for picking things up, and that early success (and likely the positive reinforcement they receive from their parents, mentors, and peers) will go on to push them to be even more successful and skillful at that thing than your average person. But, extremely skilled people in their professions got there through sustained effort and repetition. The earlier you learn that lesson the better off you'll be.

Still, there's a way to go about teaching that lesson, and the way this mother has done it probably isn't "it." Readers sure were quick to put her in her place when she shared this topic with a popular online community where posters share their experiences to see whether or not they were wrong in a given situation. By her own edits to her original post, it seems she was surprised at the readers' verdicts.

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"She basically just goes to school and then exists in the house—she spends her free time on her phone or watching TV, doesn’t have any hobbies or interests outside of her friend group, and doesn’t put much effort into schoolwork."

via Jonathan Borba
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"AITA for telling my daughter she actually has to do things to get celebrated?"

via Odd_Importance8932
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"[She] did not take it well. She exploded, accusing me of playing favorites and said it was unfair that [her brother] gets all the attention just because he’s always doing things.

via Meg Aghamyan For Unsplash+

_{The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.}
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via Odd_Importance8932
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via Meg Aghamyan For Unsplash+