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People Explain Which Home Design Trends They Hate With A Passion

People Explain Which Home Design Trends They Hate With A Passion
Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

The best part about being a homeowner (or renter) is getting to decorate. Since I live with two nerdy men, 90% of our interior design are lightsabers mounted on the walls. It’s cool! But I also treasure the parts of the house I do get to decorate.

I like to think my taste is cool. Unfortunately, some home design trends just aren’t. Here are some of Reddit’s most hated interior decorating trends.

U/eatjamtoast asked: What is a home design trend that you hate?

Let’s start with the basic sh*t. Because when you see one “Live, Laugh, Love” sign, you see ‘em all.​

Too much to read.

I hate words in my house, in basically any form, hate the live laugh love signs. I hate it even more when people do it like my mom and plaster everything in a combination of bible quotes, motivational quotes, and the worst of all the names of our family members.

Also hate anything that is clearly supposed to have a practical use that is only around for decoration, pillows, chairs, tables, if it's something that anyone has to be told not to use because their first instinct is to treat it like any other thing of it's kind then it's stupid and I hate it.

Hopecanon

Just in case you didn’t know what that was.

Season 3 Episode 13 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy

The weird names on things kitchen stuff. I think that Rae Dunn brand is stupid. I don't need a butter dish that says "SPREAD" or a tortilla dish that says "TORTILLAS".

All_hornets_must_die

This is a pet hate of mine. Finding something like a bread bin that doesn't say "Bread" on it is becoming increasingly difficult.

Yes I know the bread bin contains bread - that's literally it's sole purpose. Labeling it makes me look like I need help remembering what it is.

Prolixia

Only good if you live on a farm.

My fiancé and I are house hunting right now and I swear every other house has those sliding barn doors!

SnowsProphecy

I don't mind them on office or living room spaces. But they are hella trendy. What I really hate is that I have stayed in two hotels that have them as bathroom doors. The barn door does not seal closed so you'd better be okay with all the sounds and smells being leaked.

Sweetjoyness

The future is here, but in some homes, it overstays its welcome.

Technology isn’t always the answer.

I love smart tech in a home, but most of it is horribly implemented and just bad. You shouldn't need touch screens everywhere to control your lights, or have to pull out your phone.

Pulling out your phone to change the colour of your lights isn't "smart" that's just making your lights dependent on your phone. Having your lights auto dim when you start a movie; that's smart.

Also; my refrigerator doesn't need to connect to the internet, ever.

Thingpaint

The WORST Sims game.

Tiny House GIF by The SimsGiphy

I live in an older subdivision in a suburb that is seeing a ton of development. Mostly McMansion type subdivisions are going up everywhere. There's two things about these areas that drive me nuts.

First off, why do these developers hate straight roads so damn much? Trying to navigate through a newer subdivision is the biggest pain in because roads always seem to turn back on themselves. That sh*t is dumb.

Second: why cut down every single goddamn tree you see and then plop down a bunch of big, ugly-a** houses with zero personality and THEN plant a bunch of little baby trees? Why would anyone want to live in a house with no trees anywhere? If they spent any amount of time planning what they're actually trying to build they could very easily leave large trees and patches of nature in yards or between houses. Instead they treat the development like a kid playing The Sims.

I effing hate new housing developments. They all look horrible and since most of them have HOAs it's probably a bigger pain in the a** to live in one.

PunchBeard

No one needs a window by the bathtub.

Full open concept - especially when people take all the walls down in an older home with a traditional layout. I like separation of space and defined rooms. I can handle partial open concept but that's about it. We actually extended a wall in one of our house to create a more defined den and living room

Floor to ceiling windows in the private rooms of the home like bedrooms and bathrooms. Or giant window at the bath tub. If you in the middle of no where and have no neighbours I guess, but in a subdivision or city the curtains or build have to be closed most of the time.

Midce

Not the popcorn ceilings.

I've been an interior designer part time for multiple years and I could go on for hours about all the design choices many people make that just deserve to be kissed by a sledgehammer.

But if I had to narrow it down, I'd say these three things:

  1. Tile Countertops. The look is massively dated and it's impractical. You'd have to scrub the cracks a lot to get water stains and other substances that will be trapped inside. And when the tiles get damaged and loose your counter will be a pain in the a**.
  2. Popcorn ceilings. I was working with a crew to renovate a house and the ducking bathrooms had popcorn ceilings. The steam from the shower was making it fall to the floor. Ridiculously tacky. Avoid popcorn ceilings and just paint it.
  3. All white interiors. Just writing that irritated me. An entire white room psychologically bothers me. No color whatsoever. Unappealing to the eye and mind as well as near impossible to maintain from stains. All white is only good for rooms you never use which will never happen.

Take it from any interior designer- color is EVERYTHING. It can make or break a comfy home.​

Actually colorful houses are great tho.

Time Lapse Rainbow GIFGiphy

"Super Colorful!" homes that are just blank white walls and taupe furniture but they put up 1 painting and have a bright teal cushion in there somewhere. I f*cking hate interior design magazines now.

Edit: Honorable mention: I work in a fabric store and I've had too many people tell me the incredibly boring beige upholstery fabric from the wall might be "too wild" in their house because it's a slightly darker beige than the fabric they brought to match (that we don't sell and can't possibly match).

"Well, what other colors do you have in the room" "Oh, this and white walls."

CoyoteWee

Too much white means a lot of dust.

All white everything. I have so many friends (20-25ish) doing the all white furniture in an already white room with white or silver accents and I just don't get it. Any little bit of dust shows up and it's so stark that it's borderline painful to look at if the room is sunny.

It's totally personal, though. My partner and I do all black everything in white rooms. A lot of people absolutely hate it.

Yodel-master-yoda

Talk about tacky.

I hate it when the front facade of a house has like nice siding, expensive stonework or brick, good quality windows with nice trim, windows and door sizes and arrangement are aesthetically pleasing, etc., but then the sides and back of the house are cheap vinyl siding with different, cheaper, uglier windows and trim, and the fenestration layout is hideous chaos. Like...you know people can see your house from angles other than directly in front, right?

FranzLuciferdinand

Decoration is key for a happy home. Because if your environment is one that makes you feel happy, then it’ll boost your mood tenfold. I’m a big fan of natural light, plants, and colors- that’s where I thrive.

But again, it is all a matter of personal taste. Your house is your house- have fun with it!

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I Just KNOW HE's Cheating: These Suspicious Partners Are Beyond Paranoid
Photo by Mario Heller on Unsplash

Relationships can be hard, especially in this era of online dating. It’s just so easy for people in relationships to peruse through their “other" options, or so it seems. This thinking can create paranoid partners who search for reasons of possible betrayal. There are times when the accusations seem to hold water, but it all drips out sooner or later. True or not, the innocent had nothing but their word against these truly ridiculous accusations.

1. A Favor For A Friend

My husband found a suspicious wrapper under the couch. He told me about it right away, but I was stumped—it definitely wasn’t from me. Then, it hit me. I went out with my friend who had crashed at our tiny apartment a few weeks before, and she told me that she slept with our other friend. I asked her where and when they slept together.

She told me it happened the night when they stayed at my place. I connected all the dots and wasn’t too thrilled that they’d done it on my couch. She spent the rest of the time talking about it, and she confirmed where the wrapper came from, which was relieving because I was going crazy wondering how it could have gotten under the couch.

SSOJ16

2. Number’s Up

Quarantine was weighing on us significantly. We argued about her having to approve everything I did. I thought it was controlling, and she always got emotional about it when challenged. Randomly, I started to get phone calls from the same local number I'd never seen before. The first time was at 1 am, which woke us up.

The second call was after a big argument, and I was in another room. She came to talk to me when the number called me again. I looked up the number and I was shocked at what I found—it was registered to a woman in her fifties. Immediately, the accusations started flying at me. I offered to call the number and have her speak to the woman.

But she told me that she wouldn’t believe anything because we could’ve “planned something out in advice.” So, I blocked the number while she watched me. We're in a better place now, and I still don't know who that person is that called me or who they thought they were calling.

Maker_Of_Tar

3. False Evidence

photo of bulb artworkPhoto by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

I came home one day and before I could even step through the door, my girlfriend asked who Jill was. I didn’t know a Jill. Then she whipped out a surprising piece of "evidence"—she showed me a note with “Jill” and a phone number written on it. I was stumped and wracked my brain. Then I realized, that it wasn’t “Jill,” but “Till” that I wrote down. Someone had suggested him as a contact for my business.

All that drama because my writing was messy.

bicycletourist

4. See Through You

My boyfriend went through my phone and did not find any suspicious messages from other guys. The only conversations I had with other guys were about work. I thought that would be the end of it, but I was so wrong. He then thought that I was deleting all of my “secret” texts. I wasn’t cheating and I never deleted my text messages unless I ran out of memory. He never believed me, but it didn't matter anyway...

Because a few weeks later, I found out that he was cheating on me. I dumped him on the spot.

Sea-Biscotti

5. The Wave Of A Wand

My girl found mascara under the passenger seat of my car. She didn’t wear any makeup. We were just leaving our friend’s place when she asked me where it came from, but I honestly didn’t know. I knew I didn’t cheat, and she knew everyone who’d ever been in my car. I wasn’t defensive since I didn’t have anything to hide from her.

We didn’t talk for the rest of the two-hour ride home, and when we did, she distanced herself from me. I tried talking to her, but she said that she wanted space. So, I gave it to her. She was furiously texting everyone who had been in my car asking if it was theirs or their partner’s, but no one claimed it. Then I started getting messages—and I hit my breaking point.

They were from my friends, telling me to “Come clean,” and “Admit it,” and “How could you?” Clinging to my innocence, I went to sleep and shed a tear because there was nothing I could do to prove that I wasn’t cheating. In the morning, I made her talk to me so I could explain while she desperately waited for someone to claim it.

We talked for two hours and the entire time, she was flicking her eyes at my phone every few seconds to make sure I wasn’t asking anyone to claim it. By the end of it, she believed me and apologized for how she acted. I wasn’t angry with her because I probably would’ve reacted the same way, but you never know until you’re in the moment.

A few days later, a friend texted her back claiming the mascara and apologizing for taking so long to reply. We saw the friend weekly, and it’d fallen out of her bag, which she’d put on the floor behind the passenger seat the last time we’d gone to lunch. But since we’d already resolved it, the text didn’t change much.

AddSomeSpice

6. Pants On Fire

woman in gray long-sleeved top sitting on chair near green leafed plant during daytimePhoto by Gokil on Unsplash

My girlfriend found a slip of paper in my work pants with a woman's name and phone number on it. She asked me who "Cynthia" was, but I had no idea what she was talking about. Then, she handed me the paper. I was confused and just stared at it because I honestly had no idea. Surprisingly, after a lot of back and forth, we managed to move on from that, and three years later, we bought a new house.

While we were sitting on our couch, it suddenly dawned on me. Cynthia was a customer who had liked the necklace I was wearing, and I had told her that I’d gotten it while on a trip to Europe. She gave me her number so I could let her know the name of the jeweler. I was too naive to realize that Cynthia had actually been flirting with me.

I told my wife of my revelation and apologized since it’d looked like I was cheating on her. But I think my obliviousness was key enough because she did marry me and had never brought it up.

BearimusPrimal

7. I Knew It!

My ex-wife got it into her head that I was cheating because many of my friends were women. She was convinced that I’d banged all of them at one point and she even tried getting her mom involved. Thankfully, her mom told her she was being stupid. Then she went on my social media to scour for the smallest clues of any infidelity.

Her examples of “cheating” included me wishing a friend a happy birthday or chatting with friends from work. I had to go to Korea for a year, and she talked non-stop about my imaginary Korean girlfriend who I loved. So, I spent the year in Korea without my imaginary partner but I came back to a blood-boiling surprise—my ex-wife was sleeping with her boss.

Until the end, she justified her cheating by claiming I cheated. After that, my downward spiral began—she drained my bank accounts before initiating a divorce, and now she’s broke while I’m buying a house. Go figure!

360Entertainment

8. Doing Too Much

In my third year of studying computer engineering, my girlfriend broke up with me because all I did was “stay home and do homework.” Little did she know that the tables would soon turn on her. After the breakup, I learned that she was cheating on me with a guy who found out that she’d lied about her name. He found her on social media and then sent me screenshots of their conversations.

I realized that all of the texts she was getting while we were together were from him. Seven months later, she messaged me telling me how sorry she was, how much she regretted hurting me, and how she’d been through so much since our breakup. She said that she didn’t appreciate how great of a guy I was. I sent her, “k.”

DekuJago713

9. Accusing Excuses

man in black suit jacketPhoto by Brock Wegner on Unsplash

My girlfriend was always accusing me of cheating. I slept in too late and didn’t send a good morning text to her at the very minute she had to leave for work, and apparently, that meant that I was guilty. Spent too much time with my parents? Definitely cheating. Talking to a life-long female friend whose husband plays video games with me on the weekends? “You’re cheating.”

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and I had to dump her—but my nightmare was just beginning. She followed me everywhere and made me get a restraining order. My therapist taught me how to set boundaries and she said what I did was healthy because: “When somebody is accusing you so much, you almost start to believe you are doing something terribly wrong.”

Luthos_

10. Fat Chance

A few months after a business trip to Las Vegas, my wife and I were hit with a surprise that changed our lives forever—we were both diagnosed with HIV. Everyone at the doctor’s office glared at me, and a few friends and family of ours who we told thought I had been cheating on her. My wife, however, just asked me once. I told her the truth, which was a definite no. That was good enough for her.

Then, after six weeks of tests, our doctors told us that both tests had been false positives. Apparently, we both got infected by the Coxsackie virus, which caused our lymph nodes to swell up to the size of softballs. Our friends and family admired how much we trusted each other. My wife explained, “He isn’t exactly a ladies’ man; never has been. He would chicken out before he ever slept with another woman.” She’s right though, so it didn’t hurt.

thisismycleanuser

11. Looked You Up

Just after we got married, my wife called me at work accusing me of having an affair. She was so upset that she just kept rambling on and she wouldn’t let me get a word in. There I was at work, sitting amongst my colleagues who were working quietly, yelling at her to shut up and listen. Another group manager came over to ask if I was okay because I was so loud.

Reality finally hit me, and I needed to get home as soon as I could to figure out what was happening. I came home to an absolute shock: My wife was having a full-blown crisis. A woman had approached her at the grocery store and told her that she was my girlfriend and that I had promised to meet her there to tell my wife that it was over. She knew personal details.

It was enough to convince my wife that I was having an affair. When I didn’t show up, she told my wife to call me and ask for herself. I explained to her that I’d been working over 50 hours a week with complete accountability for being at work every day and never away at night.

I didn’t have time to have an affair. I then brought up her ex-boyfriend who was an officer. He was still jealous that she’d left him for me, and she agreed that he would be capable to pull a stunt like that. So, we blamed him and moved on.

bluerockjam

12. What A Turnaround

a woman in a white shirt holding a stethoscopePhoto by Alexandr Podvalny on Unsplash

I took a day off from work to drive across the state for medical tests because my insurance only covered one location. It took four hours to drive there, then a couple of hours for the tests, and then I got food with an old friend who had moved there, which took another hour or so. After all that, I set off for my four-hour drive back home.

While getting ready for bed, my girlfriend asked me a question that made my blood boil. She asked me how I got the marks on my back. I looked in the mirror and saw light red marks on my shoulder blades. She got upset about them, calling them “hickeys.” I was just as, if not more, confused than her and suggested that I might have sat wrong in my car or they came from the tests.

I also brought up that hickeys usually aren’t on shoulder blades. The conversation devolved from there with me trying to tell her how I should have more hickeys if I had been doing anything with someone and her screaming for me to admit that I had cheated. We lasted another week when I found out she was cheating on me.

PoetKing

13. Love My Bed And My Mama

When my wife and I first started dating, she let me know that she had trust issues from a previous relationship. Her ex-boyfriend was engaged to her and another woman at the same time and had chosen the other woman instead. So, one day, my mom called me, and we ended up talking for much longer than I had wanted. I didn't think anything of it—until my wife barged in and caught me completely off-guard.

My girlfriend flipped out after I hung up because it was 8 pm, but my mom lived in a different time zone. She told me that no one spoke to their mom that late. So, she checked my phone, and I showed her the call was from my mom’s landline. She calmed down, and we had a few other incidents.

But then, later on, she learned I liked D&D. Nerds don’t have time to cheat as it would take time away from hobbies. Plus, we’re happy that at least one person likes us and don’t want to mess that up.

CaptainShrubbery

14. Know What You Did

I learned that my boyfriend installed a key logger on my laptop. All he found was an old chat between me and a guy who I’d politely turned down. After I pointed out that he found no proof that I cheated, he went off about how I was never around or paid attention to him anymore, which was just as bad as cheating on him. But that's not even the worst part.

I had just lost my father a few months earlier. I hadn’t been around because between work and school, and I had to go back to my home to state to deal with his house and other affairs. I wanted to spend time with my family, and he had no consideration for my tough situation. I just threw the whole man out.

half_in_boxes

15. Have Another

empty chairs and tables inside lighte roomPhoto by QUI NGUYEN on Unsplash

I went to the bar where my boyfriend was a regular. I usually didn’t go, but one day, I randomly wanted to know what the fuss was all about. After we got there, he didn’t stay by me—instead, he wandered off socializing the whole time. Then things got really, really weird...he kept giving this random guy permission to hit on me. The guy kept asking if he was sure.

This happened for a while, and I politely declined each time. Then I decided to play along but did nothing physical. I was being playful since my man seemed to want me to be for whatever reason. Everything seemed fine. My boyfriend even acted like the guy’s best friend. And then the next day, he accused me of cheating!

I rolled my eyes and laughed about it. But he wasn’t joking. So, we had a big fight about his accusation. It was ridiculous.

Threnodyrose

16. Missing Something

My girlfriend grabbed my backpack and found a pair of black underwear at the bottom. After she presented it to me, I was stumped. The only thing that came to mind was when her sister showered in our washroom, or it could have been our nanny’s, but neither of them would fit the underwear. I left it because I had done nothing wrong.

Every few days, she brought it up, and I gave the same answer every time–I never did anything let alone disrespect the bed that we shared. Then, a few months later, we were spring cleaning and out of nowhere, she gasped—she found the matching bra from a set she had bought years before. I told her if she wore it more often, we’d recognize it better.

GrappleTackleChamp

17. Precious Time

When I started teaching, my school was over half an hour away from my house. I had to leave at 6 am because I led the orchestra and I had morning rehearsals at 7. The school day ended at 4, but it took time for the students to pick up their instruments or ask questions. Then at 4:30 pm, I locked up and left for home. By then, it was rush hour, so I got home around 5 or 6.

And on the weekend, I needed half a day to prepare for the next week’s lessons. We lived together, so he knew where I was and what I was doing. Yet, he had the most startling accusation—he said I worked too many hours, so that meant I was cheating on him. I dumped him.

Kariered

18. Too Close For Comfort

woman in gray tank topPhoto by Gustavo Lanes on Unsplash

I was dating someone from work. He told me that another co-worker saw me “hugging and kissing a guy.” The third-hand description of the guy sounded like my dad who lived down the street, and he had visited me one day when I worked. In our culture, we greet each other with a hug and a kiss, and everyone knew he lived down the street. But there's more.

There was also a woman who worked with us that looked just like me from behind. We dressed alike too. But nope, he said I was “definitely cheating” because a co-worker saw me from behind hugging a guy. He did me a favor and made me realize that he and the work environment I was in were horrible.

thallomys

19. Where’s The Love

When I came back from college on the weekend to visit my girlfriend, she found a thong in my backseat that was obviously not her size. I just laughed and explained that my roommate’s sister visited, and I dropped her at the airport on my way back. It must have fallen out of her bag. She didn’t buy it but didn’t end us. Little did I know that she was the one up to no good.

The next time I stopped by her house, nobody was there. Her car was not there, her lights were off, and nobody answered the door. Then I called her cell phone, and she insisted that she was in her room watching TV and her car was in the driveway. I told her I was sitting in her empty driveway and looking at her window.

MyNameIsRay

20. Uncovering The Truth

I shaved my head, which my girlfriend thought made me look irresistible. You would think that's a good thing, but in her eyes, it wasn't—apparently, I did it because I was cheating and to score with other women. That's when I realized a dark truth—I found out that she only convinced me to grow my hair out to make me less attractive and help her anxiety. I hated my hair, which is why I shaved it.

But that's not even the worst part. I later found out that she cheated on me, and she'd done it with some random hitchhiker. I found his cheap sunglasses that she kept as a memento. She also had another guy on the side who bragged about how high school girls were “always barking up his tree.” He was an IT guy in his 20s. I knew all this about him because she’d introduced us…after they started hooking up!

FelDreamer

21. Brace Yourself

woman in white long sleeve shirt wearing silver and green beaded braceletPhoto by Max Ducourneau on Unsplash

After dating for a while, my girlfriend moved in with me. My sister came to let our dogs out when we were both at work. Without telling me, she put a broken bracelet on my nightstand so I could fix it for her. She thought I’d know just by seeing it. So, I got home from work and went to the basement to play video games.

When my girlfriend came home, she went to change into comfy clothes. Suddenly, I heard her yelling—and I knew it was about to go down. She came downstairs, showed me the bracelet, and I told her I didn’t know whose it was, forgetting that my sister had left it there just earlier. We got into a heated argument, and at one point she even started throwing things at me.

Eventually, my girlfriend went to her sister’s to cool off. I went back to my video games, confused about what had just happened. Then I remembered. I called my sister on the off chance that she’d left it. We laughed, and she called my girlfriend to explain. She came back home, and we laughed more.

Blue_OG_46

22. In-Furry-ating

I was home after being gone for a month on a business trip. I sat on the floor to pet our dog. Then, I got up to find my wife of two years. We hugged, kissed, and then she pulled back. Her next move took me completely aback–She took a long blonde hair off my suit jacket and I could see the anger blooming. When she started yelling, I pointed to our dog.

Cbelt3

23. Message Received

I’ve been working at restaurants and bars since I was 18. It was easy to meet a lot of people, so hooking up was common. In college, I started dating a girl I really liked. I saw a potential future with her, and she knew I wasn’t hooking up with anyone anymore. One month, life got busy, and we stopped being intimate. I was stressed and angry about it.

Once we were finally able to meet, I got a message on my phone alerting me of some shocking news— a recent partner of mine had apparently tested positive for STDs and I was being advised to get tested. By then, we had been together for almost a year. When she read the message, she freaked out, screamed at me, and broke up with me on the spot.

I didn’t even get a chance to explain. Three months later, I was catching up with my high school sweetheart and telling her about it. She laughed and apologized. She’d entered my name on a site that sent anonymous messages to ex-partners of potential STDs. By then, my ex had already moved on, so it was too late for me.

respectable_cook2

24. Asleep Accusations

a man with a beardPhoto by Lance Reis on Unsplash

My ex was a super jealous marine. One time, his best friend came out to visit and we very much hit it off. He was really smart and a reader, and we discussed deep social and philosophical issues. My ex took four-hour naps in the middle of the day and was napping as per usual. His friend and I hung out and talked while he slept.

At this time, I was nine months pregnant. But after he woke up, his face was red with rage—he was convinced that we had hooked up. He had no evidence other than the fact that we had an opportunity and we must have taken it. Well, his friend and I laughed it off because we thought he was joking. Nope. For the rest of our marriage, he was convinced that we were having an affair.

LowThreadCountSheets

25. Thin Reasoning

I was dating a girl who I really liked for six months. She had mood swings, but sometimes I thought that she was just testing me to see how I would react. Once, she asked to borrow my vacuum cleaner, and I lent it to her. When she came back with it, her next move took me completely off-guard—she literally threw it through my window. Incredulously, I asked her why she did that.

She told me that she found a strand of blonde hair in the bag that was too long to be mine. We broke up. Three months later, I bumped into her with a friend who was blonde. I asked how long they’d known each other. They said for their whole lives. I turned to my ex and said, “I guess you found your blonde hair,” and walked away.

WolfThick

26. Eating Image

I was at work and my wife called. She told me that someone who knew me told someone who knew her that the previous Wednesday, I was seen having lunch with a beautiful young woman. I allegedly fawned all over this woman, and as we left, I kissed her and told her I loved her. Then we got into separate cars and drove away.

My wife was enraged. I was dumbfounded. There was no way I did this, but I didn’t know how to prove something that never happened. I was miserable the rest of the day. But just before leaving work, I came up with a genius way to prove my innocence—I called my wife and I came clean. Then, I asked her what she did for lunch that day.

Turns out, it was her who I had met for lunch. Let me tell you, her reaction was priceless. It was one of those rare times in our marriage when, for about two weeks, I was treated like a god.

Kelson64

27. Uh, Uh, Girlfriend

person holding blue Sony PS4 Dualshock 4 cPhoto by Florian Gagnepain on Unsplash

An ex-co-worker and I became pretty good work friends. We’re video game nerds, so I texted him about it after work hours. Then, I found out his wife was the super jealous type. First, she accused him of cheating on her with me, but then she took her paranoia to the next level—she came to the office once just to look at me. It was so weird.

The next day, he told me they’d fought because apparently, I had slept with him. They fought so much about me that I stopped texting him after work hours; and during work hours, I only texted him about work. It got to the point where context didn’t matter–she was mad just at the mere fact that I was texting him. I tried to be friends with her to help ease her suspicions.

It didn't help. I didn't do anything wrong. He didn't do anything wrong. She’s just had major trust issues and always been that way, so he doesn't have many friends. He wanted to divorce her but stayed for the children.

Thatgrrrl117

28. Constantly Catastrophic

I had a rocky relationship with a girl who I dated in high school. We began our relationship after she cheated on her boyfriend with me. She didn’t have a good home life and she needed a lot from me. My mental health and grades plummeted because of this. Whenever I tried to focus on myself, she projected. Nothing was ever enough for her.

At all times, I had to tell her who I was with, where I was going, and for how long, or else she freaked out. She eventually accused me of cheating, but I had a rock-solid defense—I had a condition that gave me seizures, so I couldn’t even drive around to get lucky. We still broke up, and she spread a rumor that I’d been taking advantage of her. She also slept with two guys behind my back.

Apprehensive-Try-994

29. Choices, Choices, Choices

I’d been friends with Mike for years before he met Sally. She was jealous and didn’t like any time he hung out with any woman, even if she was there. He loved her, so didn’t set boundaries. Once, Mike was redecorating, so he invited me shopping so he could use my discount card. We went to the store, he chose new furniture, and then he dropped me off. When he got home, Sally accused him of cheating with me.

Another time, I invited Mike to my work event. My company was holding a snowboarding day for employees and their guests. We hit the slopes together each winter, which was why I asked him to be my guest. We drove up, spent the day on the slopes, and then he dropped me at home. That night, she blew things up to gargantuan proportions. Yelling and curse words aside, she told him she wasn’t comfortable with him being alone with me.

Then a few weeks later, Mike and I met up for a sports event when my husband was on a work trip. We attended, then we went our separate ways. When he got home, Sally gave him an ultimatum because she said she had evidence of us having an affair. Mike and my husband were best friends and they always talked, so this was doubtful. She pointed to the texts about my discount card, the free snowboarding day, and the sports event.

The time we spent hanging out and texting each other was apparently evidence that we were cheating. She told him that it was either her or me. Our friendship stopped existing after that.

sirmegsalot

30. Washed Up

woman in white shirt wearing silver necklacePhoto by Amanda Hortiz on Unsplash

My husband’s therapist recommended he stop drinking for his mental health, but he didn't listen. He told everyone that he was sober, but I could see straight through his lie. Anyway, at one point, his ankle gave out and he ended up breaking our glass shower. He needed to get surgery on it, which sucked because he already had two surgeries on his ankle when he was a marine.

I brought him to the hospital where we spent the night. Later, when we came home, I started cleaning around the house and I found a necklace I didn't recognize. When I confronted him about it, his reaction made my blood boil—he accused me of putting it there and he denied cheating on me. I believed him and continued to be a good wife. I treated his many stitches on his back, butt, arms, and legs while working over 50 hours a week.

Two months later, I found out who owned the necklace—some girl was wearing it in a racy photo that was on his phone. I immediately left.

terrifiedofgolfcarts

31. Not A Big Deal

I used to come home after a 10-hour shift plus two hours of commute. In his eyes, being gone for half of the day of course meant that I was cheating on him. He would start accusing me if I was even just a couple of minutes late and hadn’t texted him ahead of time. If I didn’t say “I love you” enough times a day, he’d break down and start crying.

I broke up with him after I made a shocking discovery—he had tested positive for an STD, according to the test results I found in crumpled up in the trash. The first thing he told me when I got to the hospital was that he didn’t cheat. I then got tested and I didn’t have an STD; but at that point, we hadn’t been sleeping together much because I was in pain from what I know now as my autoimmune disease that he never believed I had.

On the few days that I wasn’t in pain, he’d beg and cry for us to do it, which turned me off instantly. But the cherry on top of it all? He wrote a break-up letter to me and referred to me as "J" in the entire thing. My name doesn’t start with a J...but his best friend’s name did.

doej0

32. The Truth Bro-Hold

My ex-husband left me after his friend told him that I was coming on to him and offered to sleep with him. It was far from the truth–I did not even like the guy, which I was I think he did it. Years later, after our son was born, my ex told me that two years after our divorce, he knew that his friend was lying to him.

happyhappy2986

33. Step One, Two, Three

woman in white sleeveless dress kissing man in blue dress shirtPhoto by Long Truong on Unsplash

I’m a teacher and I like to be super involved in school events, so I volunteered to chaperone the prom. My wife always joked that I had no proof of going to school functions and that I probably had a secret family. Prom went on pretty late, and I was there making sure the parking lot cleared and everyone got home safe. Then I got a text.

One of the students who’d been at the dance was in a panic because she’d taken off her designer stilettos and forgotten them. She asked if I could look for them then bring them to school on Monday because she didn’t know what the venue would do with them. I found them easily enough–they were huge, sparkly, and gaudy.

I tossed them onto the passenger seat of my car and forgot about them when I got home. My wife asked me the next morning to borrow my car phone charger. I said yes and then passed her the keys. Less than a minute later, she came back in freaking out about the stilettos. I laughed and showed her the message on my phone.

ThePhiff

34. Multiple Suspects

My girlfriend and I rented a place together where I’d stay on the weekends because I worked miles away. During the week, I shared an apartment with my co-workers. One weekend, she found a pair of undies that did not belong to her. I told her the only explanation could be that they belonged to my roommate’s girlfriend.

I called him and described the undies. His girlfriend said they weren’t hers but she’d say they were if I wanted her to. I thanked them but I told my girlfriend the truth—I didn’t know where they came from. That was it. Upset, she tried getting a confession, but I had nothing to say. So, she ignored me for a few days...but she would soon laugh about the whole situation.

The truth eventually came out. Her friend had stayed over and dropped her underwear in our laundry bin and forgotten. She’d called a couple of weeks later asking about them.

ralmeida

35. Jumping Through Hoops

When I was in college, I had a boyfriend from “back home” who lived about an hour away. He didn’t like me going to college and he was always suspicious of who I was with. I always invited him down to the campus, but he never wanted to come. This resulted in me spending every weekend driving an hour north to stay with him.

On Halloween weekend, he finally agreed to come down to see me. My friends wanted to go to this party and I was invited. I think he didn’t want me to go, so I figured I would just bring him along with me. I was staying at a friend’s house as a temporary living situation, and the entrance to her duplex was very hard to see.

I told my boyfriend to call me when he was close so I could walk out to the street to direct him down the driveway. He texted me to say he was approaching, and I waited for the call but I never got one. Finally, I went outside, and my stomach dropped. I had terrible cell service in this area, so as soon as I did, I saw five missed calls from him.

Listening to his angry voicemails, he’d called because he couldn’t find the house where I was staying. I walked to the street then called him back. Immediately, he said that he had “heard everything I said” and that he “couldn’t believe I would do this.” I had no idea what he was talking about. I saw his car turn a block away.

I started waving my arms to get his attention while asking him on the phone what he was talking about. He told me the first house where he parked was having a gathering in their backyard behind a fence. He swore he could hear my voice telling some guy how I “hated my boyfriend but couldn’t think of a way to dump him.”

He said he even heard people addressing me by name. I was stunned and tried to reason that it did not make sense as he’d watched me walk out of the house to get his attention. It would’ve been impossible for me to have been there and then appear 30 seconds later at the actual house. But his lofty accusations didn't end there.

He then said I must have hopped over the fence and ran up the street to call him back. I didn’t know what to say as the claim was so ridiculous and physically impossible. We spent the entire night fighting, and he screamed at me so loudly that I broke down and cried so hard that I threw up. I stayed with him for six more months.

stoned_fox

36. Photographic Evidence

pumpkin -head Scarecrow decorPhoto by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

On Halloween night, I sent the guy I was seeing a picture of me and my openly gay friend who he had met on multiple occasions. He immediately got all sulky and quiet, then he proceeded to ghost me. I tried texting him over the next week trying to understand what happened but then realized it wasn’t worth trying to save us.

I ended up getting him on the phone about a week after. The call was civil but felt quite awkward. After a few minutes of small talk, I brought it up and asked what happened. His response shook me to my core. He said, “Well, you cheated on me. You literally sent me a picture of it.” I couldn't help but laugh. I explained to him that was my gay friend.

But he refused to believe me. I even texted my friend to ask if he remembered taking a selfie with me, and he said he did. I sent the conversation to the guy and only then did he believe me. I continued the conversation with my friend, and he told me he saw my ex hook up with another girl at another party the next day.

lophile

37. The Only Way

I went from a part-time position to full-time, and my income increased drastically. I had over 15 years of experience in my field, so it was justified...except to the guy I was seeing. To him, a pay raise meant that I was sleeping with someone because an assistant could never become a director without some kind of seductive means.

He brought up how I worked long hours when I was doing overtime when my colleague got sick. And the fact that I refused to break up all my friendships to only spend my time with him meant that I was sleeping with them or else I wouldn’t mind excluding them from my life. Ridiculous. Once, I had a six-hour choir rehearsal.

He knew about it in advance, and I sent him pictures of all of the cakes people brought for a break. But after, I couldn’t reply to him, and rehearsals lasted for hours. He instantly lost it. Apparently, my lack of replies meant that I was somewhere else sleeping with someone. Anything I did was cheating in his eyes—grocery shopping, seeing friends, going to parties.

After breaking up with him, I found out that he was projecting. He even planned to visit a festival with his sidepiece and me at the same time. I am still baffled how he would have tried to avoid her without me noticing. The two of us became friends after having an interesting conversation. That upset him the most.

feralheartHH

38. A Piece Of Work

I was in a group project for college with four guys. Everything was going fine, but one guy suddenly stopped messaging us back in our group chat two days before the project deadline. So, I messaged him privately to ask if he was getting our messages and sent some information from our project. It was all school-related.

All of a sudden, I got a startling message from his wife. She said I “should never be talking to a married man,” and she wanted to call me to “talk it out.” I just didn’t respond to her. She then removed me from the group chat, so I had to send the other three guys the messages so they could know what was happening and add me back.

When I was added back to the group chat, I just said, “Moving forward I will only communicate through this group chat. At this point, I want to just get the project done and will be putting 100% effort into it and expect everyone else to do the same.” I don’t even date men.

icedcoffeefs

39. Working It Out

five pairs of socks pinned on clotheslinePhoto by Christian Fickinger on Unsplash

Once, a co-worker sent me a text after we hung out with our kids. It said something about how I’d left the "monster sock" at her house. My ex assumed this was slang for something dirty—but the reality was far from that. It was actually my two-year-old’s sock with a cartoon monster on. She wasn’t having it. A few months later, the same co-worker and I were out of state for work.

I’d hidden the fact that the co-worker was also going because I was tired of being accused of being a cheater when I hadn’t done anything wrong. It was a just sign of our broken marriage. During the trip, about 20 of us went to dinner together. Someone took a picture, and I just so happened to be sitting next to the co-worker.

We were in the same division, which was how we were seated at the restaurant. Later that night, the co-worker had a breakdown at the bar because she said she missed her kids and was dealing with custody issues. She also drank a bit too much. Another co-worker and I called for a ride and took her back to sleep it off. First, she got car sick. Things started to spiral from there.

I threw her my jacket, into which she immediately vomited. I had to literally fireman carry this woman back and drop her off with our other female coworkers to make sure she got to bed without issues. My ex, again, didn’t want to hear it. The picture alone was the obvious proof she needed to believe I had, “cheated again.”

My ex caused such a mess for me at my work that I ended up turning down over $100,000 in bonuses to stay with her longer. She even went as far as to call all of my superiors to inform them that I was having an affair with that co-worker and that she had proof. She had railroaded my career as my superiors didn’t want the drama.

She also gave me the ultimatum: the job and divorce, or leave my job to “do the right thing for my family.” She told me she would seek full custody and move with the children. My job wasn’t very family-friendly, so I left the job and moved with her back across the country to try and make things work for my kids’ sake.

FCMB

40. The Night Is Young

When I was 23, I had plans to sleep at my partner’s place on Christmas Eve to spend time with her and her daughter. Prior to leaving my house to go there, the 12-year-old sister of my friend was texting me about a drawing she had made from an anime we both enjoyed. When I got to the house, I ignored my phone for the rest of the night.

I got up in the morning, and while my girl made breakfast, I checked my phone to go through all of the Christmas messages. She looked over my shoulder many times, saw me messaging the younger sister back, and jumped to the worst conclusion without context. I set my phone down to talk...but that was the wrong move.

To her, it looked shady. However, she looked the sister up on social media and apparently refused to take the age and family connection of my best friend into account. That relationship didn't work out in the end.

apexassassin247

41. Hat Trick

We had opposite work schedules–he worked overnight, and I worked during the day. Once while I was working, he sent me a picture of a hat asking me whose it was. I told him that I didn’t know and asked if it was his because he had so many. He sent back a snarky "no" and more questions while I was supposed to be working.

So, I sent the picture to my family since we’d had them over recently. No one claimed it. He’d found the hat in between our dog’s crate and the wall, which was odd. When I got home, it was bugging me because I had no idea whose it could be. I even sent a text to his mom asking if it could be her hat. Her reply was the key to my innocence.

It was her boyfriend’s. After she told me, she called my husband and let him have it for accusing me of bringing someone into our home while he was at work. He came home early from work with flowers and apologized profusely.

xo_Mia-Clare_xx

42. Third Strike

woman in black long sleeve shirt standing near brown wooden shelfPhoto by Kelvin Han on Unsplash

I worked with a small group in a warehouse where we just talked all day. Every so often, I’d be talking with my girlfriend and I'd remember something a female co-worker told me. I wasn’t always bringing her up–it only happened a few times. But once, when my girlfriend and I were talking about lightning, I mentioned her again.

She’d said that lightning can make glass out of the sand if it hits the beach. My girlfriend freaked out and said that she’d told me that. I suggested that she might have told me over the years, but I didn’t remember and my co-worker had just mentioned it the other day. My girlfriend then took things to the next level—she accused me of cheating with my co-worker.

I told her that was ridiculous and if she accused me again, I’d break up with her. She did apologize to me later, but that relationship didn’t end well.

GimmeDatSideHug

43. Where Oh Where

I had an app that shared my location with my friends. I worked nights as a first responder, so I went to bed around 8 pm and I usually knocked out hard after a shift. It was a normal day–I went home, showered, texted my girl for a little, then fell asleep. My girlfriend was on the app and saw I was at a different address when I said I was going to sleep.

She called me when she knew I’d wake up, which she never did, and asked what I was doing at the other address. Confused, I asked her what she was talking about. She told me about my location on the map. That's when I shut her down so hard. My phone had probably pinged a tower further from my house and placed my location a mile away.

I wore a fitness tracker that showed that I went to sleep at the time I said I did and located me at my address. I still bring it up once in a while just to mess with her.

Throw-me-in-daTrash

44. Technically Mistaken

When we were first married, my wife and I got home from work around the same time. One evening, she came home earlier than me and found our home computer on without a screensaver. So, she assumed I had come home and just gone out again. She called and I told her I was running late at work and would be home in an hour.

When I got home, I couldn't believe how she reacted. She yelled at me for some time, calling me a liar and a cheat. While she did, she saw that the computer screen was still on even though it hadn’t been touched in over ten minutes. I had set up a game update before work, which froze the computer. It took a while for her to believe me though.

Aescorvo

45. What Goes Around

woman whispering on woman's ear while hands on lipsPhoto by Ben White on Unsplash

A good friend of mine informed me that my wife was having an affair with a guy from her work. His proof was that my wife, who was his wife's best friend, had told her "in confidence" that she was seeing this guy at work. I then did something I swore I'd never do—I took a look at her phone messages where I saw a whole bunch of messages between her and another friend from her work discussing the entire thing.

I confronted her and she explained how it was actually a "test" for the first friend as she suspected that she was gossiping about her to my wife's ex-husband (and the father of her child). She just neglected to tell me about her "genius" plan that she cooked up. Turns out, her friend was gossiping about her; but the problem was that now this "fake" secret actually made its way around town.

I had a conversation with the alleged affair guy and told him he better tell his wife outright that this had happened. The dumb “test” nearly cost two marriages and ended our friendship with them. I looked at my wife in a completely different light, but she didn’t see any problem with what she had done. She blamed her friend for telling her husband in the first place. We’re no longer together.

Djinjja-Ninja

46. All In Your Head

My husband had been behaving strangely for some time. My social life has always only been online, and most of my friends are men. It started with him worrying about me possibly having feelings for my friends because I’d smile at my phone whenever I was talking to them. I was suddenly defending myself almost full-time.

It seemed my new job in life was to constantly reassure him. And it got even worse—he was coming home early from work or lying about his shifts so he could come home hoping to “catch me in the act.” His behavior was never abusive in any way, but his paranoia definitely caused a massive rift in our relationship.

It was to the point where I was so tired of always having him look over my shoulder and checking on me when I wasn’t home that I was getting ready to leave him. I told him that straight up, and he asked me to stay, promising he'd seek help. He booked a marriage counselor who we saw for a year and a physician for a psychiatrist referral.

The doctor sent him for blood tests that showed a severe b12 deficiency, which caused extreme paranoia. True to his word, my husband worked on himself. He saw a therapist, we went to counseling together, and he took b12 supplements and anti-anxiety medication. I fell in love with him again and decided I wanted to stay.

VeryAwkwardLadyBoner

47. What’s The Game

My ex accused me of cheating with his best friend. I’d never been a cheater and I hate cheaters. He already knew that, so it was out of nowhere. Meanwhile, this stranger online was bothering me. He texted me constantly what I wore and did, came and messed with my house, threatened to hurt me, and even tried to blackmail me.

I didn’t give in. But then, things took a turn for the worst—the stranger got naughty pictures of my best friend, and he sent them to me from a fake account. The stranger said if I didn’t send naughty pictures, he’d post my friend’s pictures online...and he did. Officers got involved and figured out it was my boyfriend behind it all.

I also learned that he was cheating on me with multiple girls. I did break up with him for the online harassment. I regret staying for too long, but he’d threatened to hurt himself if I left him.

Sea-Nectarine-1522

48. That’s Not Ice

women's white crew-neck t-shirtPhoto by Katie Smetherman on Unsplash

He thought I was cheating on him at my job with no one in particular. I was not. It escalated quickly from accusations to texts every half hour, and if I didn’t answer them, he'd immediately get upset. He knew I worked at an ice cream shop in a busy mall and he showed up to sit in the food court to watch me for my whole shift.

When I confronted him, his response was absolutely ridiculous. He defended himself telling me that the mall was a public place where he was allowed to be. I then decided to break up with him. I don't know what his side was; I don't care, and I was not dealing with that nonsense. He then texted me all the lyrics to a breakup song. I blocked his number.

t12aq

49. Together And Apart

I went on a few dates with this girl in my archery class. Things were going well, and I asked her to be my girlfriend. She agreed. Well, a week later, we were at breakfast when she straight up burst into tears and went outside. I followed her to talk, and she revealed her well-kept secret—she wasn’t completely over her last relationship.

She wanted to keep dating me but couldn’t handle a full relationship. I liked her and wanted to keep seeing her so agreed. Everything was fine until a few weeks later when my ex called to hang out. We had dinner and ended up back at her place where things started to get physical. I told her about the girl I was dating.

My ex told me it was fine. She was single and wanted to have a night of fun not get back together. So, we had fun. This got around to the girl who I was dating who went off on me about being a cheater. I was confused because I didn’t know what she’d meant then about not being my girlfriend or in a relationship with me.

I had already accepted that she was still being physical with her ex, and we hadn’t even done anything more than make out a few times.

03throwaway03

50. Picture Perfect

I was looking for something on his computer and I ran into a mysterious folder. When I read the name, I was shocked—he had named it "Bedroom Shots." I was furious because I knew that he had not taken any bedroom shots of me (we weren't freaky like that). Of course, I opened the file...and I immediately rolled my eyes. It was pictures of our bedroom that I had taken when I was redecorating.

aeraen

51. Getting Fruity

woman holding stomachPhoto by freestocks on Unsplash

I was eight months pregnant and I got some blisters on my lip. I also developed a really noticeable rash on my chin. My husband and I went to get it checked and the urgent care doctor thought they were cold sores. It seemed like a common problem, but my husband immediately became furious. I have never had cold sores, nor has he, so he automatically assumed that I must have been sucking face with somebody who did.

This turned into a situation where I became very upset because I was eight months pregnant. I was not thinking about any kind of intimacy and definitely not with anyone but my husband. My test ended up coming back negative for herpes. The doctor said that I was allergic to the mangoes that I’d shoved my face in a few days before.

pinkmatador

Meeting a step-parent is never easy, but what if that step-parent is the same age as you...or younger? The following people share their experiences with a new step-parent, and they are just as awkward as you might expect them to be.

1. Mom, You’re Embarrassing Me!

My mom came out as a lesbian when she divorced my dad. She dated several different women around her same age, but she's now settled on one that isn't younger than me but definitely would be considered my peer. She is 33, I'm 30, and my mom is 50. It's very awkward around them with the age difference and the public smooches on top of it.

I don’t have any issues with gay people, but here's the thing—when your own mother is making out with someone your age in public, it's really weird. Anyway, I just try not to pay any mind because we love who we love and although I'm not super fond of my mother's partner, I'm glad mom has somebody to lean on because she has severe depression and doesn't live very close to me or my brothers.

crouchster

2. The Troublemaker

Six months ago, my 71-year-old dad left my mom for another woman. Their age gap is unbelievable—she's 25 years old, whereas I’m 33 and my sister is 28.

She's currently six months pregnant, but they’re not married because my parents’ divorce hasn’t gone through yet. Once that happens, I’ll have a stepmom who is eight years younger than me, plus a newborn half-sister. This will be my dad’s third marriage. The first one ended because he slept with his brother’s wife.

LooseyL

3. Time Heals All

woman in brown floral crop top and blue denim shorts wearing brown hatPhoto by Benigno Hoyuela on Unsplash

My parents divorced when I was in high school, then my dad got remarried to someone who was a few months younger than me. The worst part? They went through with it during my last year of college. My relationship with my dad is still the same as it always was, and my older sister feels the same, but my mom was livid and bitter for the first two years of his new marriage. She eventually got over it after seeing my sister and me accept our new stepmom.

Sometime later, mom started dating too, but she and my dad are still on bad terms as most divorced people are. As for our new stepmom, it's weird because she’s basically the same age as us. It took a while to get used to it, but we’re on good terms. The important thing is that we know she takes care of our dad and that she makes him happy.

We refer to her by her first name, and there’s an understanding that she has no authority over us. In that sense, she feels more like a cousin than a parent.

Null-Tom

4. Stop It, Sister!

My dad is married to a woman who is 10 years younger than me. She ended up being like the annoying little sister I never had. I stayed with them for a few years while I was trying to go back to school, and she would go through my stuff and take my things without asking. When I saw her wearing my shirt, I asked her about it. Her response made me livid. She said she found it in the laundry room and she simply assumed I didn't want it anymore.

She would also take the things I just bought, simply because she liked them. Oh, and by the way—she doesn't work either!!

serialspooner

5. Two Feels Like Twenty

My parents got divorced when I was nine, and within a couple of years, we all came to terms that it was for the best. When I turned fifteen, my dad remarried a woman who was two years older than my older brother. She already had three kids by the time she met my dad and she had also gone through some serious events in her life, so her life experience was more on par with my dad’s.

But here's the interesting part about all this—by contrast, my older brother was a bit of a screw-up and very immature, so it always felt like there were twenty years between them, instead of two. All in all, she had been a perfect match with my dad, and they are one of the best couples I know. I’m super glad they have each other, and all of their kids have a great relationship too. My mom couldn’t care less. They aren’t in each other’s lives anymore except as an extension of us.

She does her thing; my dad does his. They are just happy in their own lives.

wearingawire

6. A Problematic Father

man in black long sleeve shirt sitting on chairPhoto by Jonathan Cosens Photography on Unsplash

My parents married young, as was typical in the '60s. A decade into their marriage, he was caught with our babysitter. He eventually left our mom and married her, but that only lasted a few years. My dad then played the knight in shining armor to a succession of young women who were ‘down on their luck.’ It was the same pattern over and over.

They were always about the same age–late teens to early twenties. It didn’t matter how old my dad got, or how much older we, his children, were compared to them. Ultimately, his work took him to the Philippines, and he became involved with a young woman there. He said they were just friends and all of his many trips there were apparently to help her and her family.

We rolled our eyes. Eventually, our dad informed us he married her so she could come to Canada for a better life. We were taken aback when he told us her age—she is about five years younger than the youngest one of us. I don’t have any beef with her. She’s kind, decent, and hardworking, albeit too submissive and deferential to my dad. I’m sure that’s part of what he likes about her.

My problem is really with my dad alone, who has repeatedly proven himself to be a self-centered narcissist fixated on younger women. He congratulates himself for ‘saving’ all these people and helping them out of their miserable lives when he’s never used the time of day for his own kids or grandkids. He’s lied and broken promises his whole life, and for that reason, I have no respect for him.

When I got married, I would not let him walk me down the aisle. I’ve spent years in therapy trying to untangle a lot of issues surrounding my dad. Although my head knows what he is and that I shouldn’t care about him at all, the sad reality is that part of me inexplicably still wants his love and approval. Not only has he messed up our own relationship, but he’s contributed to my own legacy of being unable to commit. Healing is a long process.

IdleOsprey

7. New Best Friends

My mother's husband is two years younger than my own husband. That says a lot, considering that my husband is seven years older than me. My stepfather isn't exactly younger than me, but it is still a weird dynamic. My mom jokes that I always date older men, and she always dates younger me, so it was "bound to happen" as she likes to put it.

We actually made a pact when I was twenty that I wouldn't date anyone older than her and she promised she wouldn't date anyone younger than me. We both had some close calls but held true to the pact for the most part. There is, however, one rather weird part about all this—our husbands are seriously best friends. Like, they are super close. Whenever there is a family get-together, if we can't find one of them, we look for the other.

There isn't a cookout or birthday party where they don’t decide to give each other piggyback rides or have a cake eating contest or do something silly and fun. My favorite thing is when my husband yells: "You aren't my real dad, you can't tell me what to do!" They are such goofballs!

UndeadMistress

8. The Worst Wedding

When I was 19, my dad married someone six months younger than me after meeting her in the psych ward of a hospital. At the time, my father was 39, and he was recovering from an addiction. My father has always dated women much younger than himself, but I was conditioned to it. At the very least, he had never dated younger than me.

I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. Then he brought her to my cousin’s wedding and chaos ensued. No one had met her until that point, and it was just really messy. My dad and I were really close, but I was edging away from him because his addiction was too much for me to handle. When he married this girl while I was on vacation, it just kind of sealed the deal.

We had always talked about me being his "best man" if he ever got married and it just showed me that I would never matter more than his pleasure and his women. They are now separated, but I still don’t talk to my dad.

radigail

9. My Megalomanic

woman sitting on white metal stair railing during daytimePhoto by Bin Thiều on Unsplash

My dad loves controlling people. He used to always go on about wanting an Asian wife because he thought she’d be really grateful and meek towards him. He fancied the idea of not getting into any arguments. Not long after admitting those desires to me, he—in his 50s—met and married a 21-year-old Chinese woman.

I was 23 at the time. The age difference doesn't bother me—however, what is disturbing is my dad's behavior. The way he treats her in public is revolting. He is so condescending and talks really slow like someone would to a toddler. He tells her off and calls her names. It was so sad to see. I don't know for sure, but she may have left him because when I was last in contact with him, he never brought her with him or spoke about her.

Permalink

10. A Familiar Face…

I don’t have contact often with my biological father, but I knew he’d remarried again. Somebody on my biological father’s side of the family found out about my baby sister’s wedding and they all crashed it. During the reception, a woman I thought looked familiar walked over to me and asked if I was who she thought I was.

I confirmed my identity to her and explained that she looked familiar to me as well, but that I didn’t remember her name. She told me her name and reminded me of a shocking fact—I used to babysit her when I was in high school and she was in middle school. I asked her how she’d been and whose guest she was at the wedding. To my shock, she informed me that she was my biological father’s wife and she wanted to let me know he was hers now.

I was so stunned and not willing to cause a scene I excused myself and left her standing there.

RagaMuffinSun

11. So Many Children!

My brother-in-law is 30, and his wife is 55. She has seven children from four previous marriages and relationships. That's bad enough, but it gets worse—three of her seven are over 30 years old. Her youngest is 10 and lives with his father, but the other six are older than 18 and live on their own. At least two are also married. The look on their faces when they came and saw my brother-in-law at the wedding was definitely something to behold!

Dvalamardace

12. The American Dream

I'm 23 and my dad is 64. Last year, he married a woman who was 22. My parents weren't really together—they never got married, and they split soon after I was born. My mom's black and my dad's an Iranian immigrant who came to the U.S. in the '70s as a student and never left. My dad was pretty transient; he moved up and down the East coast and eventually settled in New Jersey.

I didn't keep much contact with my dad, but I started talking to him again a few years ago. He didn't have much companionship, so eventually he went back to Iran and met a woman who already had a kid and was divorced, looking to make a better life for herself. So, my dad married her, and she and her son came over just before the Trump ban.

My dad talks pretty freely about his relationship with his wife. When he revealed his true feelings, I was caught off-guard. He said things like, "Obviously she doesn't love me. She just used me to come to the U.S." Both my dad's wife and her son have had a hard time learning English. The wife had a mental breakdown last year and checked herself into a psych ward.

My dad's pretty poor and lives in a not-so-good neighborhood with not much to do. It sure seems like my stepmother is isolated, and until she gets used to everything, she's pretty much at my dad's house all day long.

breadstuffs

13. The Talk Of The Town

After my mom and her sisters had graduated from high school, my grandparents got divorced. A few years later, my grandpa married one of my aunt’s friends from high school. According to my mom, it was a real big deal that had a lot of people talking. My aunts all hated her instantly, and one of them even did the old “put sugar in the gas tank” thing. But they shouldn't have judged a book by its cover.

Because, oddly enough as it may seem, My grandpa is still married to her, and my step-grandma is a pretty cool person. Everyone seems to get along now. Unfortunately, my grandpa has dementia pretty bad now, and my step-grandma is pretty diligent about caring for him, so I have a lot of respect for her. Tragically, my grandpa doesn’t even know who she is anymore.

Your_Local_Sheriff

14. A Transactional Relationship

My step-grandmother is a fifty-year-old biker chick, covered in tattoos, and she is seven years younger than my mother. My grandmother passed in 2009, leaving my socially inept and cantankerous grandfather behind. He moved to a retirement community, where he’s gotten in some trouble for causing disturbances and being abrasive while on his front porch.

A few years after my grandmother’s death, he started proposing marriage to his housekeeper. He didn’t want her to live with him—he had a very different motive. He just wanted to pass on his pension from work. Only a spouse could inherit it, not children. It took her many years, but eventually, she accepted. No wedding. They’re not really “together.” But now my step-grandmother is younger than my mother.

elizzybeth

15. A Partner From "Paradise"

I’m 27 and my stepmom is 26. My dad brought her over from the Philippines and they’ve been married for almost two years now. It was definitely different at first, though I didn’t have much room to talk considering I’ve known a couple of older gentlemen in a very biblical sense. I was most worried about my dad getting hurt or taken advantage of.

They just didn’t seem to have much in common at first other than the fact that they both like to watch 90-Day Fiancé. Once the newness wore off, I saw a startling change in my dad—he was very lonely and needed companionship. My auntie-mama is a lovely young woman who grew up on a poor island with about 15 families on it. She laughs when people call it paradise because she says it’s very hot and there is nothing to do.

I see their marriage as more of an arrangement to better both their situations. They may not be madly in love, but I can tell they care for each other. Now that it’s been about two years, I can say with confidence I get along better with her than with my old man.

pootieocinnamon

16. The Same Sense Of Humor

My dad is married to a 25-year-old waitress. I am 26. When I was 18 or 19, my family used to go to the place she waited at and every time, I would silently pray we were going to be seated in her section because I had a huge crush. My dad would always be a dad and drop some dad jokes, and I always thought she was laughing at those jokes to be polite...but it turns out she thought they were genuinely funny.

Then, my whole world turned upside-down—they got together five years ago, and my crush was quite literally crushed. He still goes to the same place to eat, and she’s still his waitress...but the jokes are worse now.

scroggybottoms

17. Turning Over Life

I have a friend who is barely 20, yet she is dating a 46-year-old man. He has two sons, aged 20 and 23. They didn’t take the news of him dating a girl younger than them well. How they reacted to it was rather extreme—apparently, they cut off complete contact with him now that things have gotten serious. His ex-wife thinks it’s hilarious, they all think he’s having a midlife crisis, and think my friend is a gold digger. I kind of have to agree with them!

InadequateAndInept

18. The Littlest Sibling

woman wearing gray denim jacket and black scarfPhoto by Vinicius Wiesehofer on Unsplash

I’m 35 and my dad’s wife is 25. I now have a little sister that is six years younger than my son, who is 10. I always considered my dad an “old” dad when I was younger; much older than my peers’ fathers, anyway, Now he is in his 70s and he's constantly tired of toddler antics. But here's the thing—in all honesty, I love his new wife.

She was not the one who broke up my parents’ marriage and she is the sweetest person ever. She actively plays and interacts with my son and helps with anything I ask. She is genuine and kind. My mom feels the same way and often has both my father and his wife join us for the holidays. My mom has never begrudged my father’s current wife, but it probably took years for her to have an amicable relationship with my dad.

Honestly, I think she feels sorry for his current wife. My mom wants us to have a relationship with our new sister and she does everything she can to foster that.

Wrexasaurus

19. But He’s My Friend!

I'm 34 and my 53-year-old mom married a guy she met in my younger sister's friend group who is around four years younger than me. The age gap between them is staggering—almost 20 whole years. My sister was really mad about it for a while, but I never really cared. It's my mom's fourth marriage, and she has had a very long struggle with mental health issues. I just want her to be happy.

The guy is really nerdy and they had a video game-themed wedding at the local Elks' Lodge. Now they live in an RV with two cats on just his income, because she has been unable to get a job since 2009. I worry about my mom a lot, but for now, it seems to be working okay.

ieilael

20. A Little More Than Friends

two men sitting on vehiclePhoto by Kylo on Unsplash

I used to work with a guy named Chris whose best friend David was also his stepdad. Basically, when they were in school, David used to go to Chris' house a lot, and somewhere along the line, David started going over just to see Chris' mom. They started actually seeing each other at some point and eventually got married.

I think David is a year or two younger than Chris. That may seem crazy enough, but it gets even crazier—Chris never moved out, so he's just living there with his mom and his best friend. I never noticed any signs that they found it weird at all, they still came to work together and hung out like friends. It was a weird setup.

SmashMetal

21. The Surprise Brother

closeup photo of boy wearing brown fedora hatPhoto by Jeremy McKnight on Unsplash

First of all, my father is no saint. He has cheated on his current wife many times. The step-mom in this story–we’ll call her Linda–was actually his latest mistress. Linda is older than me by two years and younger than my older brother by one year. We first met her on one of our a few weekends away with my dad. The only reason she was there was that my dad knocked her up and she had just given birth to my baby brother.

Because my dad wanted us to have a relationship with him, we got to spend one weekend a month with them at his vacation house. This was a lot of time spent with my dad compared to the last 20 years of my life, so I went along with it despite the whole cheating element. But then the drinking started, and things just really hit the fan.

When they drink, Linda turns into a raging, jealous, paranoid banshee and my dad loses his temper really easily. During one of their many fights, she accused my dad of cheating on her. In a fit of rage, he charged at her. She reacted in the most shocking way—she actually used my baby brother as a shield. We had to pry my baby brother from her because they were both hurling stuff at each other.

My dad decided to stop drinking but she didn't, despite having a health condition that gets worse when she drinks. Eventually, my dad and Linda broke up (not on good terms), but my dad kept up support for my new brother. When my brother was three or four, Linda took him away and told my dad he couldn't see him anymore. My dad stayed in contact with Linda's mom to get updates about my brother, but he didn’t know where he was.

He sent child support to Linda's mom every month. Linda's mom eventually told my dad the cold, dark truth—the kid wasn't actually his son. Linda had cheated on my dad with her ex-boyfriend and pretended it was my dad's because my dad had more money. As far as I know, my dad has stopped child support, but he checks on him from time to time. The good news is...my dad has sworn off mistresses to live a quieter life.

I mostly feel bad for my non-baby-brother because he's caught up in the middle of this.

Schatzi_sugoi

22. Wicked Stepmother

My parents were married for 25 years before they divorced. A visiting nanny took great interest in my dad as he was a seemingly easy shortcut to citizenship and comfortable life. She actively pursued my dad, who obviously failed to put up much resistance. My mom found evidence of money transfers and love letters, and that was that. She filed for divorce.

The nanny eventually married my dad, and my sister and I got a stepmom who was younger than us. This woman was a monster. She would monitor all phone calls between my dad and me. She banned him from visiting us at Christmas or during the holidays, and she bought my sister and me a pair of socks each for gifts. In comparison, she treated herself to overseas vacations and ridiculous amounts of plastic surgery.

It wasn’t the gift itself that was the problem, it was the sneer on her face while she handed them to us. Eventually, we just stopped talking to my dad. During this time, mom would receive harassing phone calls that she should give up her house, and in exchange, the nanny would care for my sister and me. We were still in school, and my dad agreed to support us until we finished our post-secondary education.

I believe the demands had to do with both being upset she hadn’t taken our family home as she fantasized she would, and the fact that she thought supporting us directly would cut down their costs significantly. My mom just laughed at the audacity of her calls–they were completely ludicrous. But it gets worse—we later found out that she committed a shocking offense—she had hurt him not once, but twice, after losing her temper.

He had to visit the ER and claimed it was an accident each time. They also managed to have officers ask that they stay out of an entire city after a very public fight at a restaurant. She had also broken countless items around their home while they argued, and basically was totally crazy. The day her citizenship papers arrived, she told my dad she was filing for divorce.

I try not to keep tabs on her but I have recently heard that she married an even older gentleman in his late 80s who is quite wealthy and she is just waiting to collect her inheritance.

Wrexasaurus

23. Solid Parenting

When I was 22, I moved in with my first husband and his three sons from his first marriage. I am four, six, and eight years older than his sons. I threw them their graduation parties, gave them lunch money, busted them when they tried to get away with things, helped them with girl problems and homework, taught them how to drive.. all kinds of normal parental stuff.

I even saw one graduate from boot camp and do two tours overseas. We made some great memories and started new traditions together. I am not just their “Once upon a time” step-mom, but also the mother of their little sister. Unfortunately, like all good things, it came to an end—my ex-husband and I couldn't make our marriage work but we're still pretty decent at co-parenting together.

We talk not just about our daughter, but we also work together and talk frequently about my stepsons. Mostly the youngest, as he still needs the most guidance even though he's 28 now and has little girls of his own. All of us–myself, my ex-husband, our daughter, his long-term girlfriend, his mom, his sister, and the boys all attended my middle son's wedding this past spring, and we sat at the same dinner table together.

Arbitrary_rhino5

24. My Father’s Girlfriend

silhouette of man and woman under yellow skyPhoto by Eric Ward on Unsplash

My father and his girlfriend are only 10 years apart, and she is still older than me, but she is still way younger than most parents of teens around me. My mom is in her early fifties and she thinks it’s weird my dad went from being with someone quite a bit older to someone quite a bit younger. There are also unproven conspiracies about my father cheating on my mom, so neither of them is okay with the other.

I really like having someone younger around, as she is more interested in my music and clothes and classes than my mom, who is basically the opposite of me. She is also more with the times and open-minded to other people’s opinions, which contrasts with both my stubborn parents' thinking. There is one annoying issue, though—since she has been with my dad for 10 years now, she feels like she has the right to parent us, and she sometimes takes it too far.

She and my dad are also disagreeing a lot lately. They argue almost every day and I’ve even seen them go at it multiple times. When I still stayed over with them more often, I could hear up to fifteen fights a day. Regardless, they will be spending two weeks in Europe together soon...Hopefully, that heals them a bit.

Obsidian_Mind

25. Building Bridges

I am exactly that stepmom. My partner's oldest kid is two months older than I am, and I'm a year older than his other kid. They both really didn't seem to care about who their dad was dating. Their focus was on something else entirely—they were more interested in the divorce between their parents. I am trying to build a great relationship with them and even with my boyfriend's granddaughter.

I certainly don't try to act like a parental figure to them and wouldn't ever even want them to call me "mom" or anything like that. It's like just being friends with them, which is certainly healthier than them hating my guts or something.

GrotesqueButcher

26. The Better Partner

My partner doesn’t have any children, but he is 20 years older than me, and his sister is ten years older than him. Her two daughters are the same age as me, so I have nieces that are almost exactly my age. It was kind of weird when they found out my age, but now it’s all cool. I have a good relationship with the girls and his family loves me in general.

He had been single for a long time before he met me, and before that, he was an absolute menace—he had a terrible partner who stole a lot of money from him and disrespected his family. So, I think they’re all just really happy for him that he has found love with a nice kind person who treats him as he deserves and makes him happy. They’re a great bunch of people and I’m proud to be a part of their family.

Inglesasolitaria

27. True Love!

smiling woman standing near buildings during daytimePhoto by June O on Unsplash

I am 21 and my husband will be 52 this year. He has nine children ranging in age from 11 to 27, so a few of them are older than me. It was weird at first, but I never tried to “parent” them or boss them around at all. We all get along now, and the two youngest girls are my best friends. I am seen more like friends or cousins than anything.

It’s nice because I don’t feel any extra pressure to get along with them. We are all one big crazy family and we joke that we are the “modern family.” My parents had a really tough time with it at the beginning but now they love our relationship. The biggest challenge, however, is something I initially gave no thought to—it's hard to deal with people looking at us in public and assuming that I’m just the “sugar baby” or something along those lines.

But when it’s true love, who cares what other people think? We are so happy now and that’s all I care about.

Prettylilysdreams

28. A-Team Of Parents

My husband now is 22 years older than me. He has four kids that are older than me and four that are younger, but they’re all still pretty close in age. Not all of us are close because of life, and there are reasons that don't have anything to do with me. I am closest to two of his sons that are close to me in age. We're basically raising our kids together.

In fact, my daughter goes to school with some of their kids. We help each other out with watching the kids, picking them up from school, and things like that. Nothing has ever been awkward or weird between any of us. The reason for this is simple—I obviously don't treat them as my kids or stepkids since we're all adults. I do love all of the grandkids like they’re my own, but I am well aware of my role.

I don't think they really care about the age difference between their dad and me or that were close in age. I think they only care about his happiness and that I treat him well.

Arbitrary_rhino5

29. About The Wedding Papers…

My parents divorced when I was an infant. When I was 28, my dad married an 18-year-old girl. He needed two witnesses for the wedding and asked me to come, so I did—but I had a surprise move up my sleeve. I'm gay, and I passively-aggressively brought my girlfriend with me. While my dad was never terrible about it, he did kind of just pretend that it wasn't a fact because it bothered him.

For years, I found amusement in that we were the signatures on his wedding certificate. They ended up together so long that I just ended up feeling happy that he was happy and had someone, but I never did form a relationship with her. My mom also ended up later in life with a boyfriend younger than me, but not by as much as my dad’s wife.

I never really liked him much, but she was happy. When she fell ill, he and I made a kind of peace on her behalf. We still talk every now and then. He's still not my favorite person, but when I saw how much he really did care for her, it made me soften a lot towards him. People ask me a bunch if I will follow in their footsteps. So far, not so much. I will say I have more energy and interest in activities my peers are already slowing down around, so who knows.

H20rabbit

30. Definitely Not Taking That!

man in gray button up shirtPhoto by Ludovic Migneault on Unsplash

My parents divorced around their mid-to-late-30s. They had me when they were young. When I was 21, I visited my dad's house for the night and a girl he had been dating was over. So, he walked downstairs and asked me what I was up to. He then said the most horrendous thing he's ever told me: “You know, she's about the same age as you, do you want to get intimate with her a little bit? I'm sure she won't mind.”

I declined, then went straight out the door to stay with friends instead.

Mtwilliams2448

31. Happy For You, But…

My dad married someone who is not much older than me but is still younger than my older brother. When they got married, she was 30 and my brother was 32. My parents were married for 30 years, but no one was happier than my brother and I when they got divorced. The thing is, I didn’t care about the age difference because my dad seemed to be happy.

But the problem was her. She’s selfish, demanding, and generally just a whiner. One time, she was visiting my husband, son, and me, and she locked herself in the guest room because she thought I hated her for trying to replace my mom. My mom’s still around, I just don’t like you! I tried harder to be nice to her after that, even if I didn’t want to.

annemg

32. Nagging Questions

I'm 33 and I have three younger brothers. My dad is 61 and he's been seeing a 23-year-old girl for eight or nine months now. She lives with him and everything. We live in a smallish town, with close to 9,000 people. For a while, it was the talk of the town. I hated it. Still do, but it's gotten better. I lost a lot of respect for my dad because of it, and it's messed up our family just because it's so freaking awkward.

That's not even the worst part. My brothers and I catch a lot of flack for it. "Hey, how does it feel having a stepmom younger than you?" Stuff like that. It sucks because I've always liked doing stuff with my dad, like hiking, hunting, and fishing, but now it's so weird to be around them.

SnowedOutMT

33. A Young Widow

grayscale photo of car with flowersPhoto by panyawat auitpol on Unsplash

My best friend was actually married to a man in his late 40s. She's in her early 30s, and his two sons are also in their early 30s, as he had them pretty young. Her husband was in trouble from a mistake a few years ago, and he ended up being diagnosed with cancer, but the place he was held in was pretty negligent when it came to actually getting him proper treatment.

As a result, the worst-case scenario happened—he ended up passing about two months before he was due to be released, so now my best friend is now a widow at 31. Her stepkids are both locked up as well, and they keep asking her for stuff. I'm trying to get it through to her that she doesn't owe them anything, since they're older than she is and they can deal with their own issues.

mamaneedsstarbucks

34. No Kids! (Mostly)

My husband is 15 years older than me and has had a previous marriage. In that marriage, he adopted the ex-wife's two children who are now adults. One is 23 and the other is 26. I'm 33. I entered this marriage with the condition that I'd be childfree for life, and when I told my husband that, I was scared of his response. Luckily, my hubby is also part of that club and wants no additional children.

My relationship with the stepkids is rooted more in friendship than anything else. They have a wonderful relationship with their dad, but I'm not as close as they are, understandably. However, I think they do come to us for help on various issues and we deal with it like any other parent/child relationship. I am the person you go to when you have financial problems and need food or household stuff like toilet paper.

I have all of that in my stock room. I help whenever they ask. My requirement is to simply ask, and I will help however I can.

darkinday

35. Polar Opposites

My dad is gay, but he was in the closet for most of his life. My mother divorced him when I was two, so I have no memory of them being together. I figured out his secret in a rather disturbing way—it wasn’t hard since my dad doesn’t know how to clear his search history. I’m gay too, but we went for years without addressing his sexuality.

He finally came out to me when I was in my mid-20s and he told me he was seeing someone. His boyfriend was about five years older than me, and about 20 years younger than my dad. It was really heartbreaking because the guy clearly had issues, but I think my dad felt like he couldn’t do any better. My dad has a very stable life, and this guy was a trainwreck.

When I looked into the guy's history, I was shocked. He'd been arrested for distributing illicit substances. For a long time, I was the only one that knew my dad was gay, let alone that he had a partner. When my father had a heart attack, his partner took it upon himself to call my sister and tell her. My sister got a call like: “Hi, I’m Matt, I’m your dad’s boyfriend. Your dad’s gay, by the way. Oh, and he also had a heart attack.”

They were together for three years until Matt passed. My dad swore Matt was done with substances until he started cleaning out his stuff after. I know this is a terrible thing to say, but I’m glad that he’s dead. I hope that my father can find someone who truly deserves him.

kanyewesanderson

36. At Least You Smell Good?

woman in black spaghetti-strap topPhoto by Atikh Bana on Unsplash

My dad is dating a girl younger than me. I'm 25, she's 23, and he's 50. I hate the looks of other people, and it makes me uncomfortable to be around them. It's so weird for me to watch him teach her how to do laundry or the dishes. It's like he's raising another child. He gets angry that she doesn't know how to cook or clean, but she seems to be trying her best.

She just left her mom's house and now she's supposed to be responsible for taking care of my dad. They also fight all the time because he has zero respect for her. She usually goes and sulks in the car or in their room. There is absolutely zero communication between them. And the cherry on top? My dad usually buys her something after they argue, so nothing really gets resolved.

She has like every scent from Bath and Body Works because that's where he goes after they argue. He used to buy his ex-wife Clinique after they argued so I guess he's lucky the new one likes stuff that is much cheaper.

ikimdoit

37. He’s Not Coming Back

At 49, my dad divorced my mom to marry a 25-year-old woman. He had six kids with my mom. The new wife was two years older than his oldest child and is five years older than me. I tried giving her a chance—until I found out what she made my dad do. She made him reverse his vasectomy and have a child, who is 25 years my junior. He stopped paying for college for former kids and stopped paying alimony to my mom after 10 years.

He moved to Texas with his new wife, then retired and eventually passed. His entire estate went to the new wife and her kid. My mom never recovered. She had never finished college, and because she got married and quickly had kids in her early 20s, she had no real means of support. She was always the dominant one in the relationship and she was hurt quite badly by the affair and subsequent divorce.

She always assumed he would come to his senses and come back to her, right up until she got the divorce papers. That knocked her over. Dad then took her youngest kid to live with him, basically saying, "You aren't doing a good job raising him," which messed her up again. No inheritance for the first six kids. His new wife never read the will and basically kept everything.

Karma would come back to her big time, though—his new wife ended up gaining 350 pounds. She now has MS and is unable to get out of bed.

romons

38. The Tuition Fees…

My sister, who was 18 at the time, had a relationship with a man older than my dad for seven years. He already had several children older than my sister, and he was not in contact with him when the relationship started. He was so mean too, and my sister stayed with him until her friend pointed out to her that she was being too accommodating to him. Now she’s doing much better, and she got a pretty good deal out of the whole experience—I mean, the old dude did put her through pharmacy school...

Permalink

39. Difficult Translations

woman wearing blue denim jacketPhoto by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

My dad dated a woman six months older than me. My parents divorced about 20 years ago, but I found out through my brother that my dad, in his late 60s, was dating a 23-year-old. The thing is, she doesn't speak English, only Spanish. And he doesn't speak Spanish. They communicated through Google Translate. But whatever, I didn’t really care. He's happy, so I’m cool.

He died just over a year ago. My siblings and I hosted the wakes, and she came to the second one, dressed in terrible jeans and a big puffy jacket. She didn't come up to any of us and instead just sat there. Again, whatever; I'd never met her, so I didn't care too much...until the next day, just before we left to drive to the cemetery. That's when I lost it.

The priest was about to give the eulogy and asked that we all sit down. Before any of his kids could even move, she took the very front row with her relatives. Sorry, but you definitely should have waited to see if any of his kids, grandkids, or siblings wanted to sit there before you. It's not like they dated for many years or were engaged.

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40. The Cool Grandma

My dad has a stepmom who is younger than he is. I don't know a lot about it, but his biological mom–my grandmother–did the whole “I'm an empowered feminist and freeing myself from my husband” thing, basically ditching him to go off and live on her own. This happened all while my dad was a teenager. It was a few years before my granddad met his new wife.

The age gap is pretty crazy—I think she was about 19 when she met my granddad, and my dad was about 20 or 21, but he's come out alright. My granddad’s new wife ended up having three children with him, and the youngest is just a year older than me. We all get along really well now. I guess we noticed when we were young that our stepgrandmother was more or less my mom’s age, but it didn't faze us.

trashbaby

41. The Gaming Buddy

I was around 21 at the time and a junior in college. My parents had separated for the fourth time. I headed to my mom’s house one weekend to surprise her, and I found a young guy, about nineteen, there with her. Apparently, they met playing World of Warcraft and my mom flew him to our home city in West Michigan. He was from Canada somewhere.

They dated for a year before my parents eventually got back together. It was horrible. So awkward, and he kept wanting to be my friend. I was pretty mean to him, but he wasn't all that bad.

Unsafeturtle

42. Older Guys

woman wearing blue and white floral spaghetti-strap dressPhoto by Leyli Nova on Unsplash

My folks have been together for 31 years now. However, I’m dating someone their age. I have no siblings, and the guy I date has no kids. There’s a bit of an age difference between us, but my folks were probably ready for that. You see, I told them a long time ago that I was gay and that I’m specifically into older guys. Then, one day, I just came home with an older guy and they weren't surprised one bit.

Before that, I lived with an old guy and his son, a friend from college. I wanted to move out of the house, so I moved in with him. It was probably good practice for my folks’ state of mind! I’m in a significantly healthier relationship than that friendship ever was. We’re good together, and my parents like him. We live together now and we go out all over the place on the weekends. It’s just been awesome. There’s not much to say about it unless anyone ever asks.

youmeanwhatnow

43. Changing For The Better

smiling woman at daytimePhoto by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

My fiancé’s father is 65, his wife is 31, and their son is two. My fiancé is 36 and I'm 32. So, she's younger than both of us. Their son Nick is about as cute as cute can be and they seem happy. When I first met his new wife, I was shocked: She's Jamaican and has dreads, but my father-in-law is as white as snow. For context, when I first met him 10 years ago, he struck me as lightly racist and sexist.

Interestingly, his racism is now totally gone—the last time they were over, they were talking about him wearing a dashiki to watch Black Panther together. When they first started dating, they got each other black and white beaded bracelets. They said they were like tigers, half black and half white. They call Nick ‘Tiger’ now, but they say it's because that's her grandfather's name.

I don't believe it. My fiancé’s nieces and nephews, who are all now in their teens, call Nick their ‘buncle,’ which is short for baby uncle. When we go out, we get lots of confused looks. But honestly, it's all a fun dynamic. My man, on the other hand, had a hard time at first. Now, he just loves getting to be a dad, brother, and friend all at the same time.

Itstheimplication519

44. Happier Times

I was just about 31 or 32 when my mom introduced me to her new boyfriend. She was 50 then, and he was maybe 25. At first, I was pretty weirded out. The thought of some young dude being with your mom can be...offputting. But as the years went by, I had a change of heart—it became clear that they cared for each other very deeply. My mom, who had always struggled with relationships since my dad left when I was two, was happier than I had ever seen her.

I got to know the guy, and he turned out to be pretty great! He was an Afghan vet; kind of a goof and not real smart, but absolutely a heart of gold. I wouldn't say we ever really got along, but we were friendly. They recently split up after six years, which has been a drag to watch. My mom's parents both passed away, which threw her for a loop, and she started pushing him away really hard.

I think that as she started feeling older, she didn't want to deprive the guy of the possibility of having a family of his own.

SpeckledSnyder

45. A Surprising New Friend!

woman in white striped topPhoto by Le Minh Phuong on Unsplash

My father moved overseas for work when I was in college, and during my first time visiting him, he waited until I was out there to drop the most shocking news of my life—he told me he was seeing someone “kind of young.” At the time, he said she was in her mid-twenties, so close to my age, but still older. That was already really weird for me. My initial assumption, given her age, was that she was after him for money or US citizenship.

That’s the stereotype, after all, and I wasn’t sure what else a girl that young would want with my fully American father. Their language barrier was significant, as were their cultural differences. I was quick to discover two things: first, she was actually only 19, nearly a year younger than me. Second, and possibly more surprising...we got along really well.

We’re peers now. While my dad was at work all day, we’d hang out with her friends, go grocery shopping, and cook dinner while watching Chinese soap operas. It was great! I still don’t understand the relationship AT ALL. But at least I can appreciate the friendship we have since our closeness in age gives us a lot more in common than most people have with a parent’s significant other.

Grimpleshins

46. Out And Having Fun

I never married anybody older than me, but I find older men attractive and I have been with quite a few of them in my 20s. For context, at the time I had a good job and I was successful myself, so I wasn’t looking for a handout. I’m also gay and I assumed older gay men are a lot more eligible than older straight men, so I didn’t really meet any creeps.

I'll never forget the nicest old man I've been with—he's now in his 60s and he has children 10 years older than me. I would have seen him more, but he had some health issues which made getting around kind of hard.

Better_Than_Nothing

47. A Beautiful Connection

My mom passed suddenly when I was 16. My parents had four kids, my mom was the love of my dad's life, so he was completely devastated. The only thing that kept him going afterward was us. He lived in a depression for a very long time, and for 15 or so years, he was always putting us above himself. Finally, my dad and a girl he worked with found a connection.

She is younger than my youngest sister. My dad was 65 and she was 28 when they met. We did not trust her, but she proved us all wrong—they have been married now for five years. The truth is, my dad was poor and retired living on social security, so this was not a case of a gold digger. They truly loved each other. Last week, my dad passed while fighting heart failure.

He was 70 and she 33. She was by his side the whole time taking care of him as best she could. My dad told me he hoped I could find someone to love me half as much as she loved him. Our friends describe him as the dad everyone wishes they had.

HeyLookWhatICanDo

48. In Sickness And In Health

dextrose hanging on stainless steel IV standPhoto by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash

My dad is 65 and he's in a relationship with someone who's eight years younger than I am. I'm 34, for reference. They've been together for three years and I'm happy for them. At first, it was a bit awkward for me, to the point that it took me a half year before I decided to meet them together. I was mainly worried about my dad, and for good reason—he came out of a long relationship that went really bad, and he had a really rough time with it.

I was scared he would end up in the same depression if this one went bad as well. I've spoken openly about my worries with my dad a few times, and it will take time for them to actually go away. There's a 38-year age gap, and my dad, at some point, will get health issues because of his age. I'm cautious of what will happen.

Both of them assure me they love each other and that they'll take care of each other, no matter what. I fully believe they love each other; that's very apparent from the way they interact. And I'm very happy they feel that way with each other and found that happiness. But I'll always be worried that when the health issues start—someone will have to do the day-to-day care, and that brings a lot of strain on a relationship.

It happens even to couples who've been together for 30+ years and are roughly the same age. In this case, they'd potentially be together for less than 10 years when it starts. I’m happy they’re happy, but I am cautiously optimistic for the future.

straks

49. Younger And Younger

My father is an irresponsible creep. It was just the two of us when I was growing up, but he made it clear that he resented having to take care of me on his own. He's now in his 60s, whereas I'm 34 years old. His current wife is around 30 years old, but that's not even the most shocking part—she's actually the oldest wife he's ever had!

His last wife was 19 when they met, but even that was better than his girlfriend before that, who was a few months younger than me when I was 17. I always make sure that his wives know that I'll always be there for them and their kids when he leaves, because he's GOING to leave. It's interesting watching how surprised they are when he does.

Batai2368

50. Aunts And Uncles

When I was 19, my mom found out that my dad, who was 46 at the time, had been cheating on her again. The way she found out was horrible—she had found lewd pictures of him with his new girlfriend. My parents separated and my dad moved back to Vietnam. After a few years, I accidentally found out that the woman he was cheating with was a year younger than me, a fact that completely grossed me out especially considering that they met when she was 17.

I refused to meet her at first when I came to visit him the first time, but I later realized that was pointless and petty. They now have a 10-year-old and an 8-year-old. The worst part is that Vietnamese custom dictates that I refer to her as my elder and myself as a child. My kids also have to call their kids their aunts and uncles.

nlieo