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r/Bestof Are My Parents Grooming Me?

r/Bestof Are My Parents Grooming Me?

Released Friday, 14th June 2024
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r/Bestof Are My Parents Grooming Me?

r/Bestof Are My Parents Grooming Me?

r/Bestof Are My Parents Grooming Me?

r/Bestof Are My Parents Grooming Me?

Friday, 14th June 2024
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0:00

Today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.

0:02

We're already halfway through 2024. I

0:04

find it's important to take a

0:06

moment and celebrate your little victories

0:08

in life. For example, my recent

0:10

accomplishment is I just recently recorded

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episode 2000 of Rslash. It's

0:15

always a good idea to take the time

0:18

to celebrate your milestones and process your struggles.

0:20

Therapy can help you take stock of your

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progress and set achievable goals for the next

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month. That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P

1:00

dot com slash rslash. Welcome

1:02

to Rslash Best of Redditor

1:04

updates, where OP's parents decide

1:06

to just go crazy for

1:08

no reason. Our next Reddit

1:10

post is from GreedPrincess. In 2021, fresh out

1:12

of college, I moved to a new state

1:14

for a job. Since I was facing high

1:16

rents, the Scots, the family friends of my

1:19

parents, offered me their guest house for a

1:21

mere $300 a month. Little

1:23

did I know, this seemingly sweet

1:25

deal would lead to a year

1:28

of turmoil. The Scots, longtime friends

1:30

and business partners of my parents,

1:32

had three kids. As soon as

1:35

I settled in, the Scots became

1:37

excessively involved in my personal life,

1:39

particularly my relationship. The situation

1:41

took a dark turn as they

1:43

fabricated scenarios to my parents, accused

1:46

me of promiscuity, rarely being home,

1:48

and even planning to secretly move

1:51

in with my boyfriend. Their disdain

1:53

for my boyfriend was palpable, treating

1:55

him with passive aggression, condescension, and

1:58

even making a mistake. making derogatory

2:00

comments about him being adopted. The

2:02

interference escalated with family meetings where

2:05

they labeled me as a poor

2:07

influence on their teenage daughter, criticizing

2:09

my boyfriend whom they'd met three

2:11

times. And I have to add,

2:14

my boyfriend and I don't drink

2:16

or smoke and we both have

2:18

careers. My boyfriend is a perfectly

2:20

good man and was always respectful

2:23

to them despite their poor treatments.

2:25

The father of the Scott family

2:27

also shared his marriage problems and

2:30

lack of a sex life with

2:32

me, blurring the boundaries of landlord-tenant

2:34

and inappropriate relationships. The breaking point

2:36

came when the fridge in the

2:38

guesthouse broke and they insisted that

2:40

I foot the bill for a

2:42

$900 replacement. Their influence

2:45

over my parents was significant, as my

2:47

parents rarely had my back and sided

2:49

with the Scots, constantly belittling my boyfriend

2:51

without reason. By the end of 2022,

2:54

I decided to

2:56

move out with some girlfriends of mine,

2:58

leaving without saying goodbye to avoid further

3:00

confrontation. Fast forward to the summer of 2023,

3:02

my boyfriend and

3:05

I were living together in a new

3:07

state and he proposed. To my surprise,

3:09

when my boyfriend asked my parents for

3:11

their blessing, they were supportive and enthusiastic.

3:14

He even flew out my parents to

3:16

witness our engagement. My fiancé's parents generally

3:18

offered to finance the wedding. That winter

3:20

I got a text from my dad

3:23

who urged me to invite the Scots

3:25

to my wedding. I respectfully declined, citing

3:27

the stress that it would cause me

3:30

on our special day. This refusal

3:32

triggered a nuclear war within the

3:34

family. My parents, who were adamant

3:36

that the Scots be included, declared

3:38

that they wouldn't attend the wedding.

3:40

My dad accused me of starting

3:43

my happy life by destroying his

3:45

and my mother uninvited me to

3:47

Christmas. In attempts to salvage the

3:49

situation, I apologized and tried to

3:51

explain my decision. However, my

3:54

parents were unreceptive, hurling insults and

3:56

baseless accusations, claiming my side of

3:58

the family has been cancelled? What?

4:01

My mother then flipped the script and

4:03

threatened to expose details on social media

4:05

of my disrespect to the family if

4:07

I didn't show up for Christmas. Then

4:10

two weeks later, OP posted an update.

4:12

I woke up this morning to a

4:14

bunch of texts from my mother. She

4:17

demanded that I end my engagement, cancel

4:19

the wedding, quit my job, and move

4:21

back into their home. She started saying

4:23

things like, I know you're unhappy, it's

4:26

okay, you tried. Now it's time to

4:28

come home, you have some maturing you

4:30

need to do. This irks me so

4:32

much. My parents literally gave their blessing

4:34

for my marriage six months ago. Now

4:36

they want me to change my entire

4:38

life because they're mad that they didn't

4:40

get their way? I responded and said

4:42

that this is my life, and if

4:44

they don't want to respect my decisions,

4:46

that's on them. But I'm in

4:48

utter shock. I'm financially independent from my

4:50

family, I have a great job, a

4:53

loving brother, where do parents come up

4:55

with this stuff? Then three

4:57

months later, OP posted an update. Initially,

4:59

I found peace in accepting the fact

5:01

that my parents weren't going to attend

5:04

my wedding. I looked forward to celebrating

5:06

with those who would be present and

5:08

knowing that my parents wouldn't be there

5:10

to ruin it. However, a text from

5:12

my younger brother who's 19 shattered that

5:15

peace, revealing that our parents threatened to

5:17

kick him out of the house and

5:19

abandon him financially if he attends my

5:21

wedding. This utterly crushed me. I'm so

5:24

close with my brothers and I love

5:26

them dearly. I have three brothers, aged

5:28

19, 22, and 27. While

5:30

my older brother lives independently, my

5:32

two younger siblings still live with

5:34

our parents. Despite my parents' decision

5:36

to not come to the wedding,

5:38

I told my brothers how badly

5:41

I want them to attend, assuring

5:43

them of my support. After they

5:45

shared their support, I booked their

5:47

travel, optimistic about their participation. I

5:49

was naive to believe that our

5:51

parents would accept this decision. My

5:53

parents' outburst targeted my brothers, leveraging

5:55

financial threats to dissuade them from

5:57

attending, claiming that they're betraying the

5:59

family. by supporting me. I offered

6:01

to financially assist my brothers if they

6:04

still want to attend the wedding knowing

6:06

they would get kicked out, but I

6:08

realize that's still tough to do. In

6:10

response to this outburst, my brothers called

6:13

me and proposed an intervention, aiming to

6:15

address broader familial issues. I tried my

6:17

best to explain that this was a

6:20

bad idea. In fact, I pleaded with

6:22

them. Despite my reservations, I supported them

6:24

by a phone call. I felt that

6:26

I was bound to by sibling loyalty.

6:29

That phone call confirmed my fears.

6:31

There were vile accusations, personal attacks,

6:33

ranging from insults against my fiancé

6:35

to baseless critiques of our life

6:37

choices. My father's tirade, marked by

6:39

verbal abuse, culminated in a cruel

6:41

dismissal of my feelings. Here's a

6:44

few notes that I took during

6:46

this two hour intervention. My fiancé

6:48

isn't an intellectual because he likes

6:50

to snowboard and doesn't know how

6:52

to have intellectual conversations. My fiancé

6:54

doesn't have royal or noble blood

6:56

and therefore cannot have intelligent children?

6:58

Huh? It was rude for my

7:00

fiancé not to buy flowers or

7:02

wine from my parents when he

7:05

flew them from another state to

7:07

see the proposal. My decision to

7:09

change my job and move to

7:11

a new state with my fiancé

7:13

is a manipulation tactic. My dad

7:15

said that calling people names and

7:17

insults is the right thing to

7:19

do when you're mad. My dad

7:21

said that my decision to change

7:23

my career path is stupid and

7:26

I'm cutting him out of his

7:28

life. He thinks that my fiancé's

7:30

job as a salesman makes him a loser.

7:32

My parents are mad that I never offered

7:34

to invite my uncle to the wedding, who

7:37

I haven't seen in 13 years and who

7:39

lives in Russia. My dad says that he

7:41

regrets not punching my fiancé in the face

7:43

when he asks for my blessings and says

7:45

that it'll haunt him for the rest of

7:48

his life that he didn't punch him. He

7:50

says the only reason he gave his blessings

7:52

was to not hurt my feelings. He called

7:54

my fiancé's mom a B-word. I started hysterically

7:57

crying at this point. I felt like a

7:59

little girl. girl again. He called me a

8:01

liar when I explained all the horrible things

8:03

his friend did to me, and why I

8:05

didn't want to invite them to the wedding.

8:08

He even called me a liar when I

8:10

explained that his friend, who's 70 by the

8:12

way, would try to talk about his sex

8:14

life with me. Crying, I explained to my

8:16

dad, I just wish you cared about my

8:18

feelings too because I am also really hurt

8:20

and I just want you to understand my

8:23

perspective. He said, Why the

8:25

f**k should I care about your feelings?

8:27

You don't respect me, my friends, or

8:29

my values. F**k your feelings you

8:31

stupid b**k. I ended the call right

8:34

there. After this call, my brother said

8:36

that they would still be attending my

8:38

wedding because this has become an issue

8:40

of standing up to my father's unacceptable

8:42

behavior. Despite my brother's attempts to defend

8:45

me, we were outmatched by our father's

8:47

narcissism. Today marks day one of going

8:49

no contact. Then, one month later, OP

8:51

posted an update and she spends a

8:54

few paragraphs explaining that she decided to

8:56

cut her parents out of her life,

8:58

her brothers attended her wedding and her

9:00

wedding was great. The day after the

9:03

ceremony, over breakfast with my husband and

9:05

older brother, I learned that my parents

9:07

had been incessantly trying to reach out

9:09

to my brother. My brother and husband

9:11

shielded this information from me so that

9:13

I didn't get upset this week. However,

9:15

my curiosity got the better of me

9:17

and I insisted on asking my brother

9:19

to see what my parents said to

9:21

him. What I read shook me to

9:23

the core. My brother texted my mom.

9:26

She will never forgive you for this

9:28

and our entire family will never be

9:30

the same. My mother's response,

9:32

forgive us? She betrayed

9:34

the family? She's gone completely

9:36

insane. This sinister family has

9:39

completely changed her values and they've

9:41

been grooming her for three years.

9:43

She's making a huge mistake by

9:45

marrying. Glad you guys are so

9:47

close again. The guilt that

9:50

I'd been carrying evaporated in an instant.

9:52

I realized that me being happy with

9:54

my husband would never be enough for

9:56

them. I refuse to be held hostage

9:58

by their misery any longer. longer. You can't

10:00

change someone who just wants to be

10:03

miserable for the rest of their lives.

10:05

Here's where things become laughable. I blocked

10:07

the Scott's wife on Instagram so that

10:09

she wouldn't see my wedding photos. Mr.

10:11

Scott, in response, sent a giant text

10:13

accusing me of being abusive to his

10:15

wife and kids, despite the fact that

10:17

I haven't seen or spoken to them

10:19

in over a year. He then said

10:21

that he will no longer support me,

10:23

and if I get a divorce, he

10:25

won't be there for me. I promptly

10:27

blocked him, refusing to entertain such a

10:30

stupid message. Alright, that

10:32

post was unexpectedly bonkers.

10:35

I'm gonna be honest, I don't fully

10:38

understand why the parents completely flew off

10:40

the handle over something so minor. So,

10:42

going through the comments, I see a

10:45

surprising number of people say that their

10:47

theory is that the Scots were planning

10:49

on grooming OP to become Mr. Scott's

10:51

mistress. Which, um, I don't know if

10:54

that's the case or not, my personal

10:56

theory as I was reading this is

10:58

that the Scots wanted OP to

11:00

marry one of their sons, not

11:03

Mr. Scott. But this is just total speculation.

11:05

I don't know, what do you guys think?

11:08

Our next Reddit post comes from r

11:10

slash relationships. My dad married my stepmother

11:12

three months ago, and I

11:15

feel like it made my life significantly

11:17

harder and less pleasant. They moved in

11:19

with us, and for the indefinite future,

11:21

the situation won't change. We have a

11:23

three-bedroom house, and before they moved in,

11:25

my dad and I had our own

11:28

rooms, both with bathrooms, and there was

11:30

a smaller room which was a study

11:32

from my dad. After they moved in,

11:34

my step-sister Jenny, who's 16, got my

11:36

room, and I had to share the

11:39

smaller room with my two step-brothers, Tom

11:41

and Mike, who are 11 and 10.

11:43

All my books, my telescope, and my

11:45

things are packed up and are now

11:47

in the basement since there's no space

11:49

anymore. This made me really angry, but

11:51

my dad told me that I have

11:53

to be a team player, and this

11:55

is what him and his wife agreed

11:57

on. Jenny treats me like garbage. She

11:59

sometimes- sometimes acts as if I'm not

12:01

there at all, and sometimes is super

12:03

aggressive and hostile towards me. The other

12:05

day, I asked Tom to stop going

12:08

through my things, and she became so

12:10

angry and said, You have no right

12:12

to order my brother around. She

12:14

told me to get it in my thick skull that

12:16

I'm not their big brother to tell them what to

12:18

do, even though all I asked was for them to

12:21

stop going through my things. She

12:23

said that it's best if I don't talk to

12:25

them at all, since that way they'll get less

12:27

influence from a weirdo like me. What

12:29

I don't get is that if she's so

12:31

concerned that I might leave a bad influence

12:34

on Tom and Mike, then why doesn't she

12:36

change rooms with me? Tom and Mike don't

12:38

respect any boundaries. They're always

12:40

going through my stuff. I have a watch

12:42

which was a gift from my mother. She

12:45

died of cancer, and they took it

12:47

from my drawer and lost it. I found

12:49

it weeks later in the basement with

12:51

its glass broken. Before they moved

12:53

in, I used to get a $100 allowance every month. Now,

12:57

Jenny gets $75, I get $35, and Tom and Mike each get

12:59

$30. I

13:03

had an Xbox, but these kids broke it.

13:05

I used to spend a lot of time

13:07

with my dad. He used to come see

13:09

me play basketball almost every week. He hasn't

13:11

done it even once in the past three

13:14

months since he's always working overtime. We eat

13:16

out once a week, and none of them

13:18

in these three months have been to any

13:20

of my favorite places. But Jenny,

13:22

Tom, and Mike have each chosen their favorite

13:25

places more than once. I complained about all

13:27

of this to my father last week, and

13:29

he told me that family is all

13:31

about sacrifices, and I have to make

13:34

my sacrifices. But haven't I

13:36

made enough sacrifices already? I feel like

13:38

I'm the only one making sacrifices. I

13:40

looked forward to them moving in here,

13:42

but now I feel like an outsider

13:44

at home. It's not my home anymore.

13:46

I don't want to live here anymore,

13:48

but I'm only 15 and

13:50

I can't move out. I have nobody

13:52

else who can take me in. I can't

13:55

stay here for three more years. I'll go

13:57

crazy. I often fantasize about running away at

13:59

night. but I know that's also

14:01

as horrible if not even more. Then,

14:04

one month later, OP posted an update.

14:06

Okay, a LOTS happened. I decided to

14:08

just ask my dad and stepmother for

14:10

some time to talk to them, and

14:13

I just showed them my post on Reddit.

14:15

They took a good half an hour to

14:17

read everything. There were times that it looked

14:19

like they were going to start crying. Eventually,

14:21

they told me that they need more time

14:23

and will talk about it in a couple

14:26

of days. Two nights later, my dad asked

14:28

me to come to the room, and to

14:30

make it short, they got it. They

14:32

both hugged me, and at some point,

14:34

my stepmother started crying. They apologized to

14:36

me for their negligence and told me

14:38

that they messed this up. They had

14:40

put all their attention and focus on

14:42

helping my step-siblings adjust given their new

14:44

living arrangements and everything, and neglected how

14:46

difficult it must have been for me.

14:49

They promised me that things will change.

14:51

As for the room arrangement, they realized

14:53

that it's not reasonable. So, they offered

14:55

me the basement, as a lot of

14:57

you suggested. We went to the store

14:59

and bought a lot of supplies and made

15:01

it a family exercise for everyone to contribute

15:03

refurbishing the basement and make it like a

15:06

bedroom. So, now I'll have my own room.

15:08

It won't have a bathroom like before,

15:10

but I can share a bathroom with

15:12

the boys. That's not a problem. The

15:14

money allowance changed as well. Now, Jenny

15:16

gets $60, I get $50, and

15:19

the boys get $30 each. So, basically, $15

15:22

shifts from Jenny to me, which I think is much

15:24

more fair. It's not as good as the $100 I

15:26

used to have, but this is something I

15:29

can understand and accept. Now, to

15:32

Jenny. My stepmother told me that

15:34

Jenny's problem isn't really with me.

15:36

It's that her mother remarried, and

15:39

Jenny doesn't like that because Jenny was hopeful

15:41

that her mom would return to her dad.

15:43

Now she's trying to make this work, and

15:45

I'm just caught in the crossfire. Apparently, she's

15:48

been a little B-word to my dad as

15:50

well. My stepmom promised me that she would

15:52

handle Jenny and make sure that she won't

15:54

be a problem. As for the boys, this

15:56

is the most difficult one since they're 10

15:58

and 11. My parents gave me

16:01

a small lock so that I can lock my bag

16:03

for now, and when the basement is ready, I can

16:05

lock at store and only me and the parents will

16:07

have the key. So at least my

16:09

stuff will be safe. They also made some little

16:12

changes to make things easier. They told me that

16:14

I can come to them for any problems, and

16:16

my dad promised me some father-son time every couple

16:18

of weeks as well. Ginny came to me a

16:21

few nights later and asked if I would come

16:23

with her for a walk in the neighborhood as

16:25

she wanted to talk to me. She

16:27

apologized to me for everything and

16:30

told me that she didn't and still

16:32

doesn't like that her mom married my dad

16:34

and she was forwarding her anger and frustration

16:36

towards me, which wasn't right.

16:39

She said that I'm probably going through similar

16:41

things as she is and there's really no

16:43

reason for us to make each other's lives

16:45

even more difficult than it already is. So

16:48

I accepted her apology and we shook hands on

16:50

being on the same team from now on. And

16:53

honestly, she's been very different ever

16:55

since. She's helping me a lot

16:57

in preparing the basement and she makes Tom and

16:59

Mike help as well. The other day

17:01

when I asked Tom to turn down the TV

17:04

volume and he refused, she told him, listen

17:06

to your big brother. I hope she remains this

17:08

way. It's nice to have a story

17:10

with a happy ending every once in a while. That

17:13

was our slash best of Redditor updates. And

17:15

if you like this content, be sure to

17:17

follow my podcast because I put out new

17:19

Reddit podcast episodes every single day. Some

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people just know the best rate for you

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makes the car behind them. Oh

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no, they're about to save

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with DriveWise and the Allstate app and only

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