Teen Praised for 'Mocking' Father Due to His After-Work Complaints

The internet has praised a teen for "mocking" her father for his after-work complaints in a new post on social media.

Published on Reddit's r/AmITheA**hole forum, a teen under the anonymous username u/Throwaway61565 shared her story to receive feedback from the "ATIA" community. The viral post has over 19,000 upvotes and 1,000 comments.

The original poster (OP) began her post by explaining how her father is the "breadwinner" while her mother stays at home and takes charge of cooking, cleaning and other duties around the house. Since OP is the oldest, she does her best to help her mom but "can only do so much." She wrote that when her father gets home from work, he tends to complain "about everything."

As a result of the complaints, she said that she listens to arguments between her parents daily. She admits to confronting her father about his complaints but nothing helps.

OP decided she would pick a day where he was off from work and pretend to act like him. She put together a typical work outfit for him and used black tape to create a mustache.

She described her joke, "At 6pm. I went inside the house. Shouted 'I'M HOME!!' then sat next to him in the living room and started kicking my shoes while complaining about the state of the house at the top of my lungs. He glanced at me confused asking what I was doing. I ignored him then started yelling about the carpet being dirty, shower not ready, the kids needing to be quiet and so on."

"My youngest brother kept pointing towards me saying 'this is daddy'. I then proceeded to yell about dinner then berated my mom for not preparing [it] before time. My dad stopped me and in a serious tone asked what I was doing. I turned to him and said 'WHAT?! CAN'T A MAN EFFING REST AFTER WORKING LONG HOURS!!' in the most macho voice I could muster. My dad got the hint because this was the common phrase he uses daily," she continued.

Eventually, she stopped the act and told her father that she was showing him what he sounds like every day. He said nothing, went outside and refused to speak to her.

"Later he went on about how I 'mocked' and invalidated him. That he does work hard and me doing this was disrespectful and invalidating. Mom said it was funny but also thought I hurt my dad's feelings and I could've gotten the message across some other way instead," she concluded.

Newsweek reached out to u/Throwaway61565 for comment.

Newsweek published several articles regarding teenagers including how a teen was applauded for telling a woman that her "baby" is a waste of space, a teen backed online for making their half-siblings cry and a teen slammed for not watching her sister's infant while she showered.

How to deal with parents who argue a lot

Are you in a similar situation as OP? Do your parents argue a lot and you don't know how to deal with it? Here are some tips to deal with your parents fighting, according to allwomenstalk.com:

• Always remember that it is not your fault your parents are fighting
• Get away from the arguments by leaving the house often
• Don't listen in on their arguments
• Don't assume the worst
• Avoid taking sides
• Confront your parents and tell them how you feel
• Talk to a therapist

Redditor reactions

"[Not the a**hole]. You held up a mirror to his behavior, and he didn't like what he saw. That's on him. I hope he gets the message," u/mimiuniverse explained, receiving the top comment of over 27,000 upvotes.

U/evilsir said, "This is absolutely hilarious and well-deserved and sometimes, people need to see how they're behaving reflected back at them to truly understand. Good job. [Not the a**hole]."

"[Not the a**hole]. All you did was show him how he is. If it was embarrassing for him, well he shouldn't act that way then. F**k any one that pulls the 'well he pays for the house', that's boomer talk. Him paying for the house doesn't make you a slave and he also chose to have a family. Everyone has their role in the family. You don't go to his office and yell about how things aren't a certain way, he doesn't get to do that coming home," u/JSSJeepin wrote.

U/No-Mechanic-3048 commented, "[Not the a**hole] and I love it. He wouldn't have listened to you as you said before. Maybe in a week or two talk to him about his behavior with your mom. Clearly it's affecting everyone and the young kids are picking up on it."