"I'm done being your practice kid": 18-year-old bans his parents from attending high school graduation for prioritizing his 5 younger siblings before him, they freak out

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Jun 22, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Parenting is no walk in the park, or woods, or mall, or anywhere else you like to amble your bipedal feet back and forth. To be completely honest, I'm truly at a loss why people still even want to have kids. I mean, think about it. The mess, the screaming, the entitlement, and what do you get out of it? An eternal sentence of responsibility and burdens for someone who will never return the favor. It's not my cup of tea, but I guess there's the whole "furthering the human race," type of thing. 


If you're someone who did already have kids and mostly raise them, then good for you. Hopefully you don't regret your decision, as I think many parents will reluctantly admit. Not everyone is cut out for it, and there should be no shame in feeling an alienation from parenting duties. Just ask David Lynch when he made Eraserhead. 


In the story below, the protagonist is a teenager who feels underwhelmed by his parent's parenting. Read the full story below for all the juicy details. 

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  • 01

    AITA for telling my parents I refuse to be their practice kid anymore?

    Cheezburger Image 10520030720
    via bobbieo from Getty Images Signature / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I (18m) am the oldest of my parents five children. There's me, brother (13m), sister (12f), sister (10f) and brother (7m). My
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  • There's a slew of stereotypes about being the eldest sibling. The eldest often gets the hardest punishments, the most consequences, and the most expectations. The parents go hardest on their first born because they're really practicing all their parenting at once. I guess you could say this is an extreme situation. 

  • 03
    parents never treated me that great and the older I got, the worse it seemed to get. But I
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    noticed as my siblings got older it was different and they were night and day different with me.
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    I wasn't allowed to spend a lot of time with friends as a kid. My parents said there was no way they'd do all that and I should be
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    home. But my siblings from age 5 could go to friends houses and from age 4 if the friend lived in our neighborhood. When I asked my parents about it both times
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    they told me that I was their practice and they didn't want all their kids to whine into their face about missing out.
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    My parents had the rule with me that you eat everything off your plate or it either gets saved for
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    next time or you don't get to leave the table. When I say everything I mean clear your plate everything. So if I was full and left
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    say three peas or something, I was forced to stay and finish or they'd be taken aside and served
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    to me next time. Not with my siblings. And when I asked my parents about that they said they learned from me.
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    The next thing was grades. My parents were always super ped off and angry when I got less than As. Even if it was a B and
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    everyone in my class got a B because the test was especially hard, it didn't change my parents stance. I was grounded for Bs, I
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    was forced to do extra chores for a month, I was left out of stuff. But my siblings could get Cs and Ds and it didn't change anything.
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    This was another thing I brought up to my parents and by that point they were tired of me asking why things were different
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    and they told me I was their practice run and they learned from things with me.
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    And like, I know people learn from parenting as they go. But they learned with me and gave the benefits to my siblings. I saw
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    none. They were never nicer, or let up on me. They didn't apologize for being hard on me or for yelling at me almost all the
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    time. Nothing like that happened and there are multiple other ways they were different between me and my siblings. Expectations for
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    chores were way higher with me always, birthday and Christmas gifts were way different and noticeably so to make both sides
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    Cheezburger Image 10520031232
    via OlgaPonomarenko from Getty Images / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    of the family question what they gave me because it seemed so little compared to my younger siblings and it wasn't that mine was more expensive, it was always
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    the opposite. There was also really strict times set for me. I wasn't allowed out past 4pm during summer even in my teens.
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    I wasn't allowed to attend certain birthday parties. Just so much stuff.
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    My parents got annoyed over a year ago my guidance counselor asked about any financial help I'd get with college and wanted to know if they had saved for me or
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    anything. The way they reacted, it just ped me off and I know they save for my siblings, so it was when I knew I was done. I
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    Cheezburger Image 10520030976
    via dotshock / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    kept my head down for a year and I left. I graduated last month and I didn't let my parents come. My siblings weren't there either.
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    But my parents expected tickets and instead of claiming some for them I got them for my grandparents instead. My parents were angry and confronted me
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    on it. I had already moved out of their house and I live with my paternal grandparents right now.
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    I told my parents I was done being their practice kid and I refuse to keep it up anymore. I said they can f with my siblings and learn to live with it
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    because I'm not here to be a punching bag while they get the best versions. My parents accused me of all kinds of things, called me all kinds of things. But I'm truly so done.
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    Does that make me TA? Especially where my siblings are involved? That's why I'm asking here.
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