16-year-old girl tells dad and stepmom she doesn’t care about her stepsiblings needs or wellbeing, internet backs up her boundaries: “I won’t even be civil with them”

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Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Aug 11, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. Growing up with stepsiblings must be a headache. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an environment where my parents stayed together, and I had one sister whom I was always close with. My best friend growing up wasn't as fortunate in that respect. When she was 7-years-old her parents divorced, and they had split custody. She was packing a bag every single week and spending time at mom's house and dad's house separately. Not before long, her parents both remarried. Her mom to a childless man, but her dad remarried a woman who had a kid already. Going to her dad's house became a pain in everyone's back with this kid. We all hated him. It's not his fault, but come on, we didn't want to spend time or get to know her random stepbrother. 

The point is that these experiences will really shape a person, and even though I didn't grow up with it in my own family, I had the second hand experience of witnessing the drama and turmoil that unfurled from a divorce and remarriage. Read the full story below. 

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  • 01

    AITA for telling my dad's affair partner wife that I don't care about her and her kids' needs and wellbeing?

    "You will never be my real family"
    via Andrey_and_Olesya from pixabay / Canva

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

  • 02
    Two years ago my mom found out dad was cheating on her and he moved in with his affair partner and her kids. Both dad and the affair partner "Martha"
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  • 03
    were married. Martha has two young kids with her ex husband (supposedly) and dad has me (16f) and my brothers (20, 22 and 25). My brother's refused to have
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  • 04
    anything more to do with dad after the affair. But because I was 14 I didn't get the choice. My parents divorce took over a year
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    and my dad and Martha have been married for a little under a year already.
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  • 06
    Martha's ex husband doesn't want anything to do with their kids. So they're with Martha and dad all the time. I do what I can to be outside the house when it's
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  • 07
    dad's parenting time. He notices and complains but I told him I'm not playing happy family with his affair partner wife. Dad tells me not to call Martha that and Martha has yelled at me in the
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  • 08
    past few months for using that term because she's afraid her kids will hear. I told them I don't care and I don't have respect for them. tell dad all the time he let me
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  • 09
    down and he destroyed our family and hurt us all. He says it shouldn't hurt me and my brothers and that he doesn't care
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  • 10
    if he hurts mom because she's so boring that nobody should be stuck with her. I aways tell him I can't wait for Martha to cheat on him.
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  • 11
    My dad has to pay a certain percentage of all activities I'm a part of. Martha feels like it's unfair because I do so many and it takes money from their household so
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  • 12
    she told me I need to do one or two things and not all the things because her kids have needs and so does she and their wellbeing needs to be maintained. I told her
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    Cheezburger Image 10535269888
    via Andranik Hakobyan 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.

  • 14
    I don't care about their needs or wellbeing because they're not my problem. She said you're supposed to care about how your family is doing and I told her the
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  • 15
    affair partner wife of my cheating father will never be my real family and she could be homeless on the street for all I care.
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  • 16
    Dad told me I have no right to talk that way to anyone and Martha has tried to be nice to me but I won't even be civil with him. I told him if he wants a civil
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  • 17
    household he should let go of his parenting time. I told him I'm done at 18 regardless but he's the one punishing Martha's kids and Martha by forcing me to be here.
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  • 18
    He told me it doesn't give me the right to say I don't care about the wellbeing of a mom with two young kids. AITA?
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  • 19
    love
    via badmanproduction 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.

  • 20
    FormSuccessful11... • 19h ago NTA It always amazes me that parents can be this dumb.
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  • 21
    DisastrousDay420 19h ago NTA, you don't owe those people anything.
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  • 22
    Peaches1732 • 19h ago NTA when your dad is older and none of his children deal with him he will regret his actions. Martha needs to
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  • 23
    get a job and take care of her children and stop trying to get you to take less activities. How often are you forced to go there
    via u/Peaches1732

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