Family trips usually come with a fair bit of drama. Sharing the backseat with your siblings for 30 hours on a road trip tends to create some tension, and there might be times where a hangry mom and dad just cannot agree on whether they want Italian of Mexican food for dinner. The vacation can still be a success overall, but somehow family trips always find a way to upset someone. Unfortunately for one family, they recently ended up with a year’s worth of family drama without even making it on a trip.

4 days ago, a concerned father, Reddit user Throwra5354409, reached out to the internet for some outside opinions on whether or not he was at fault when his planned family vacation quickly went awry. Below, you can read the full story, as well as some of the replies from other readers, and decide how you feel about the situation. Let us know in the comments how you would have handled this family drama, and then if you’re interested in another Bored Panda piece featuring last minute plans canceled due to a family conflict, look no further than right here.

One father recently asked the internet if he was in the wrong for calling off his family’s vacation

Image credits: Daria Nepriakhina (not the actual photo)

When the day of the planned trip arrived, it was revealed that his wife had canceled his teenage son’s ticket

Image credits: Ben White (not the actual photo)

Upon finding this out, the father decided to call off the entire vacation

The father is now working hard to fix this mess that his wife has created

I understand that not everyone would be thrilled to take on the role of a stepmother, but that is what Rose signed up for. It is completely unfair for her to treat Leo, a kid, like he has done something wrong just because their personalities do not mesh well. Even if he does not like her, as the adult in the situation, it is her responsibility to be the bigger person. But as cliche as it is for stepmothers to have issues with their stepchildren, it is still relatively common. 

On her blog The Inclusive Stepmom, Beth McDonough writes that it is actually normal to resent your stepchildren. “When we are disliked or only hesitantly accepted by the kids when we come into the picture, we feel like our entire self is being rejected, which makes us feel inadequate and like a dagger to our self-esteem,” Beth explains. “Being rejected is like tossing hot oil onto a pan and having it snap, crackle, and pop right onto your arm. Resentment is how you start to feel toward the oil and that pan after it burns you too many times.”

She goes on to explain that stepparents can view their partner’s children through a lens of “responsibility first and love second”, where parents see their children “through the lens of love first and responsibility second”. She notes that it is completely normal for a stepparent to have a hard time loving their stepchildren, but she does not excuse acting inappropriately. “When that happens, go for kindness and respect first and foremost, and let go of the pressure you put on yourself to have specific feelings.”

Rose is allowed to not be best friends with Leo, but she should not be allowed to bully him out of their family vacation and manipulate his brother into thinking it was his fault. It is sad to hear that one family vacation could blow up into such a big mess, but thankfully, the boys’ father is working hard to get things under control. Let us know in the comments what you think of this whole situation, and if you have experience dealing with a difficult stepparent, we’d love to hear how you handled it. 

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Readers have overwhelmingly sided with the father and his sons, with many warning that his wife is the problem here

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