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AITA for pulling away from my parents because they always decide to break bad news on important days for me?
The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.
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Years of this routine leave the oldest son with a clear message: any day that matters to him is fair game for parental crisis management. By the time college rolls around, he’s had enough. Calls get shorter, visits disappear, and the family dynamic quietly shifts. The siblings notice, the parents stay blissfully unaware, and the cycle only breaks when a social media post finally forces a conversation.
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The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.
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When confronted, the parents claim ignorance and label the distance as petty, as if their habit of emotional ambushes is just a quirky family tradition. Siblings, meanwhile, see the denial for what it is. Some people outgrow birthday parties, others outgrow being the emotional collateral for their parents’ news bulletins. Sometimes, pulling away is not pettiness but self-preservation, especially when every special day comes with a side of trauma.
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The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.
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21-year-old cuts ties with parents over lifelong habit of breaking bad news on important dates, special events, and birthdays: ‘My siblings think they're just heavily in denial’
Some parents have a knack for timing, but these two seem to treat their son's milestones as prime opportunities to drop emotional bombs. Every important day, school plays, birthdays, graduations, even a simple assessment, gets hijacked by a fresh dose of bad news, always delivered with the kind of dramatic flair usually reserved for soap operas. The lead role in the school play comes with a backstage announcement about an ill great-grandma. A birthday party is prefaced with the revelation that the family dog is already gone. Graduation is overshadowed by a cancer diagnosis that's been kept secret for months, just waiting for the perfect moment to steal the spotlight.
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