Boyfriend calls his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter an orphan because he thinks her mom works too much: 'With how much I work, she might as well not have any parents at all.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Dec 9, 2025 8:00 AM EST

He is bad news, and she should've left him a whole lot sooner.

You cannot predict how a relationship will shake out. Who among us hasn't looked back at the beginning of our relationships and thought, "If only I knew then what I know now? If so, I would've never gotten in that relationship." There are always red flags in the early stages of any encounter that make sense later, but it's so easy to put on rose-colored glasses and assume the best of a person you like and care about. You don't want to end something just because they do a few things that annoy you. If everyone did that, nobody would be in a relationship! 

Not all relationship transgressions are created equally. There's a big difference between dating around during the first couple of months of seeing someone and actively using dating apps when they are in an exclusive relationship. Sometimes someone will say something that hurts their partner's feelings, and when their partner tells them, they take steps to change their behavior. Other times, the exact opposite will happen, and the offending partner will continue to do the things that hurt their partner's feelings. If someone is allowed to be better and doesn't take it, that says a lot about how they'll operate in their relationships going forward.

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  • A woman holding a little girl in her arms
    via Jayson Hinrichsen (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The boyfriend in this story showed his girlfriend exactly who he was from the jump, but she didn't leave him until he made a snide remark about her daughter.

  • Am I the bad guy for pulling away after ‘boyfriend’ called my daughter an orphan?

    I 26F have been involved with M30 for almost a year now. And I honestly can't tell if this relationship was ever real or if I'm just a game to him .
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • In the beginning he love bombed me hard, and of course I didn't see it as that at the time. He remembered the little things, made me breakfast, shared music and memes and generally wanted to entwine our lives together.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • A man with curly hair wearing a striped shirt
    via Jas Rolyn

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • And stupidly enough I fell for it. I eventually started catching on to the little things he would do, calling me gross, jabbing at my insecurities, taking the skin on my stomach and pinching it while calling it fat. I approached him with the topic and asked if he would stop.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • He would get cold shutdown and pretend I never existed. Including filling that void with other women . 6 months in and his phone started going off with notifications from tinder, duet snd bumble. I asked and he brushed it off saying it was re- engagement. I knew that was a
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • lie so I hopped on both made the profiles and found his within the first few swipes. What hurt most was the profile photo was one he had taken the week before while wearing my t-shirt. I never confronted him about it but held onto the information.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • Now the main problem, one night we were sitting on the couch and my daughter 3F was in my lap while we watched a movie. We were talking and out of no where he turned to her and said she was an orphan. I turned to him and said try again. He then
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • said "why? it's true." And I disagreed and he turned to me and said that," With how much I work she might as well not have any parents at all." I was infuriated. I'm a single mom working a full time job and a side job to provide for us.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • Young focused woman feeling overworked and tired working on laptop and desktop computers sitting at home office during the nighttime female programmer writing code
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Eventually the comments started getting worse, the put downs, the criticism, and the woman chasing. I came to the conclusion that he never loved me at all like he said he did and then all the lies hit me like a ton of bricks. I was done.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • But now that I'm done and not playing into the f'ed up push pull dynamic, I'm the asshole who gave up on us. So Reddit, what do you think? Am I the asshole?
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • SmokeStatus 1593 You're telling us you stayed with this man after he called your daughter an orphan to her face, unprovoked. You're a terrible mother picking your boyfriend over your daughter. YTA
    via u/SmokeStatus1593
  • OP AgreeableAppeal8572 I cut him off after the comment
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • Extension-Pick8310 Mama, can I ask you why you even called him back the second date?
    via u/Extension-Pick8310
  • OP AgreeableAppeal8572 Because he wasn't like that at first. He really tried to put in a lot of effort with being helpful, cooking, and quality time (separate from my daughter) and in hindsight there were some things that I should've caught on to but I didn't piece it all together until after he made that comment toward my daughter. It was one thing to attack me, but to attack her is something unforgivable.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • friendlypeopleperson Stay broke up and far away from him. You did not "give up on" anything; you finally realized how incompatible you two were as a possible couple. I also think that he was beginning the manipulation to get you to work less and to become dependent on him. Stay broke up and far away from him. Don't fall love bombing; it's manipulation. Block him.
    via u/friendlypeopleperson
  • OP AgreeableAppeal8572 You are most definitely right, looking back at it he had been trying to get me to quit my job since the start. I thought it was because I was complaining about it but now it's definitely a manipulation tactic.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • Extension-Pick8310 Fair enough, and first off I just gotta give you some props; you bust your ass for your family. It almost sounds like that comment is the necessary straw that broke the camel's back.
    via u/Extension-Pick8310
  • OP AgreeableAppeal8572 Thank you I really do appreciate it . I've been feeling like the world's worst parent as of lately because of all of this.
    via u/AgreeableAppeal8572
  • NTA thirdtryisthecharm He's been manipulative since the start. Why would that change when you're breaking up?
    via u/thirdtryisthecharm
  • Disastrous_Award_789 If he can look a three-year-old in the eyes and call her an orphan, then leaving him will quickly end his chance for World's Worst Stepdad.
    via u/Disastrous_Award_789
  • daveygeek You say "Now the main problem”, but the main problem is that you are dating a cheating sack of shit. Be better for yourself and your daughter and leave him.
    via u/daveygeek
  • t-mckeldin NTAH, dump the PUA dud.
    via u/t-mckeldin
  • Happyweekend69 Why the hell did you stay if you had PROOF of him cheating? Why stay after? Why act like you didn't know? Why was that not the last straw that broke the camels back? The comment to your daughter was not okay at all, but you actively kept a shitty man in both your lives that you knew was shitty and say shitty things
    via u/Happyweekend69
  • Funny-Horror-3930 YTA to your daughter and yourself.
    via u/Funny-Horror-3930

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boyfriend orphan bad boyfriend toddler work working mom relationships girlfriend dating apps daughter full time mom toxic relationship single mom breakup
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