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<p>Ideally, no one would pick favorites when it comes to their own kids. In the very least, if a parent feels more connected to one child, they would choose to keep that feeling tucked far away from the eyes and ears of everyone else.</p><p>Watching someone you love get treated like a second fiddle by their own parent can be equal parts saddening and infuriating, and calling it out can be a tricky task for many reasons. For starters, people who feel comfortable putting one kid on a pedestal while mistreating another tend to be masters of denial and manipulation, secondly, finding the right time and place to call it out can be difficult.</p><h2>In a recent post on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/oz2m5v/aita_for_pointing_out_my_aunt_has_a_favorite_kid/" target="_blank">the Am I The A**hole subreddit</a>, a teenager asked if she was wrong for calling out her aunt for favoritism at an extended family dinner.</h2><blockquote> <p>AITA for pointing out my aunt has a favorite kid at a family dinner?​​​​​</p> </blockquote><p>OP kicked off the post by sharing that her Aunt Mara has always prioritized her 9-year-old Lara over her 13-year-old daughter Reese.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>My Aunt Mara (45f) has two kids. Reese (13f) and Lara (9f). Mara has always clearly preferred Lara. Reese always knew it too. My aunt always makes sure Lara can do the extra curricular&#39;s she wants to do, she lets her drop out at any time, even if she&#39;s paid in advance, she gives her the birthday she wants every year, and in general, she&#39;s more affectionate and interested in what Lara is up to.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>With Reese, she pushed her into dance when she was 5 and made her do dance for 4 years. Reese never liked dance and never seemed to fit in. Mara hated it. She would ask her why she couldn&#39;t put more effort in, etc. That she had always wanted a daughter who did dance.</p> </blockquote><p>OP has been privy to the dynamic over the years while she spent time after school with them, and she brought up several examples of the favoritism.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>I (18f) was around there a lot because Aunt Mara babysat me for my parents while they worked and then I just had to wait at her house until my parents got home so we could save on electric bills and stuff. I once asked Aunt Mara why Reese couldn&#39;t do something she wanted to do and she told me they didn&#39;t have the money for it. Reese never got to do another one but Lara has several.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>Soccer, dance, art and swim right now. But she&#39;s also done basketball, photography, gymnastics (which really upset Reese because she always wanted to do gymnastics), guitar, piano, drums and singing. Aunt Mara also discards Reese&#39;s plans and has made her cancel to look after her sister but also made Reese skip her plans when Lara has them and they conflict.</p> </blockquote><p>In the past year and a half, things have gotten so bad Reese adopted a &quot;screw it&quot; attitude. OP knows this because she&#39;s the only one Reese can talk to about this dynamic.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>In the last year and a half, Reese has just decided to say f**k everyone. She&#39;s definitely weighed down by it all. We talk about it because she said I&#39;m the only one who acknowledges it. But I have definitely noticed.</p> </blockquote><p>During a recent family dinner, Mara called Reese out for bringing down the mood and she stomped off.</p><p>OP took the opportunity to call Mara out for favoritism, which caused a disturbance across the dinner table.</p><blockquote> <p>We were all gathered for a family dinner Sunday (it was my grandparents&#39; birthday this week so the family decided to celebrate Sunday) and Reese was in a really bad mood. Aunt Mara told her she was bringing down the mood and Reese got up and left the table.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>Aunt Mara said she didn&#39;t know what was up with her but she&#39;s always acting like the whole world is out to get her. I mentioned that maybe if she didn&#39;t show such blatant favoritism Reese would be happier. My aunt and parents were pissed I would bring it up, my grandparents asked what I meant.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>Mara was quick to deny OP&#39;s accusation, and OP&#39;s grandma was the only one who seemed to understand the confrontation at the time.</p><blockquote> <p>Aunt Mara said I didn&#39;t know what I was talking about and Reese is such a drama queen. I told my grandparents what I meant and they were shocked. Aunt Mara said Reese never wanted to do anything. Grandma remembered how often Reese would ask to do gymnastics.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>My parents told me it wasn&#39;t the correct time or place to bring it up and I embarrassed Aunt Mara.</p> <p>AITA?</p> </blockquote><p>When OP&#39;s parents told her it wasn&#39;t the correct time or place, she decided to bring the scenario to the internet for speculation.</p><h2><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/_ewan_/">_ewan_</a> thinks OP&#39;s parents are missing the point.</h2><blockquote> <p>&quot;My parents told me it wasn&#39;t the correct time or place to bring it up and I embarrassed Aunt Mara.&quot;</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>NTA - your aunt&#39;s behaviour is what embarrassed her, and it&#39;s going to have done so regardless of when you brought it up.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/breathingnitrogen/">breathingnitrogen</a> thinks Mara deserved to be called out, no matter the timing.</h2><blockquote> <p>Your aunt disgusts me.</p> <p>You&#39;re NTA, and my heart goes out to Reese.</p> </blockquote><h2><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Special_Koala_1093/">Special_Koala_1093</a> thinks Mara was only embarrassed for being &quot;caught&quot; and that she knows full well what she&#39;s doing.</h2><blockquote> <p>NTA. If she was embarrassed, she probably does it knowingly, knows it is looked down upon but still doesn&#39;t change a thing.</p> <p>Good for you for standing up for your cousin.</p> </blockquote><h2><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/princessnokia_/">princessnokia_</a> thanked OP for standing up for Reese.</h2><blockquote> <p>NTA. As someone who was the least favorite child, I respect you for speaking up on it and acknowledging it. I&#39;m sure she&#39;s used to being told she&#39;s sensitive or making things up when she tries to bring it up, so she probably feels validated knowing she isn&#39;t crazy.</p> </blockquote><h2><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/mad_dog_the1st/">mad_dog_the1st</a> thinks OP did a good job opening the door for Mara to make changes down the road if she wants to.</h2><blockquote> <p>NTA. It may not have been the &quot;best time&quot; but if no one acknowledges the elephant in the room then nothing can change. Your aunt Mara may not have even realized what&#39;s she&#39;s been doing, or she does and actively doesn&#39;t give a crap. Either way, pressure from others in the family to treat Reese with more fairness can be helpful.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><blockquote> <p>Honestly, if things keep on the way they are Reese will eventually grow up, move out and cut contact with her mother. Then your aunt will actively wonder why her oldest daughter wants nothing to do with her. You made room for your aunt to change her behavior and possibly, if not already too late, keep that from happening.</p> </blockquote><blockquote> <p>So, honestly good on you for standing up for your cousin. Keep standing up for her. You might be the only one in the family that IS actively supporting and encouraging her. Sometimes the truth hurts and your aunt and parents can soak it in. Hopefully, they do.</p> </blockquote><p>While it&#39;s clear the internet supports OP and Reese, the real question is whether OP&#39;s parents and grandma will join her in intervening against Mara&#39;s toxic parenting.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

Teen asks if she was wrong to expose aunt for having a favorite kid.

Ideally, no one would pick favorites when it comes to their own kids. In the very least, if a parent feels more connected to one child, they would choose to keep that feeling tucked far away from the eyes and ears of everyone else.Watching someone you love get treated like a second fiddle by their own parent can be equal parts saddening and infuriating, and calling it out can be a tricky task for many reasons. For starters, people who feel comfortable putting one kid on a pedestal while mistreating another tend to be masters of denial and manipulation, secondly, finding the right time and place to call it out can be difficult.In a recent post on the Am I The A**hole subreddit, a teenager asked if she was wrong for calling out her aunt for favoritism at an extended family dinner. AITA for pointing out my aunt has a favorite kid at a family dinner?​​​​​ OP kicked off the post by sharing that her Aunt Mara has always prioritized her 9-year-old Lara over her 13-year-old daughter Reese. My Aunt Mara (45f) has two kids. Reese (13f) and Lara (9f). Mara has always clearly preferred Lara. Reese always knew it too. My aunt always makes sure Lara can do the extra curricular&#39;s she wants to do, she lets her drop out at any time, even if she&#39;s paid in advance, she gives her the birthday she wants every year, and in general, she&#39;s more affectionate and interested in what Lara is up to.  With Reese, she pushed her into dance when she was 5 and made her do dance for 4 years. Reese never liked dance and never seemed to fit in. Mara hated it. She would ask her why she couldn&#39;t put more effort in, etc. That she had always wanted a daughter who did dance. OP has been privy to the dynamic over the years while she spent time after school with them, and she brought up several examples of the favoritism. I (18f) was around there a lot because Aunt Mara babysat me for my parents while they worked and then I just had to wait at her house until my parents got home so we could save on electric bills and stuff. I once asked Aunt Mara why Reese couldn&#39;t do something she wanted to do and she told me they didn&#39;t have the money for it. Reese never got to do another one but Lara has several.  Soccer, dance, art and swim right now. But she&#39;s also done basketball, photography, gymnastics (which really upset Reese because she always wanted to do gymnastics), guitar, piano, drums and singing. Aunt Mara also discards Reese&#39;s plans and has made her cancel to look after her sister but also made Reese skip her plans when Lara has them and they conflict. In the past year and a half, things have gotten so bad Reese adopted a &quot;screw it&quot; attitude. OP knows this because she&#39;s the only one Reese can talk to about this dynamic. In the last year and a half, Reese has just decided to say f**k everyone. She&#39;s definitely weighed down by it all. We talk about it because she said I&#39;m the only one who acknowledges it. But I have definitely noticed. During a recent family dinner, Mara called Reese out for bringing down the mood and she stomped off.OP took the opportunity to call Mara out for favoritism, which caused a disturbance across the dinner table. We were all gathered for a family dinner Sunday (it was my grandparents&#39; birthday this week so the family decided to celebrate Sunday) and Reese was in a really bad mood. Aunt Mara told her she was bringing down the mood and Reese got up and left the table.  Aunt Mara said she didn&#39;t know what was up with her but she&#39;s always acting like the whole world is out to get her. I mentioned that maybe if she didn&#39;t show such blatant favoritism Reese would be happier. My aunt and parents were pissed I would bring it up, my grandparents asked what I meant. Mara was quick to deny OP&#39;s accusation, and OP&#39;s grandma was the only one who seemed to understand the confrontation at the time. Aunt Mara said I didn&#39;t know what I was talking about and Reese is such a drama queen. I told my grandparents what I meant and they were shocked. Aunt Mara said Reese never wanted to do anything. Grandma remembered how often Reese would ask to do gymnastics.  My parents told me it wasn&#39;t the correct time or place to bring it up and I embarrassed Aunt Mara. AITA? When OP&#39;s parents told her it wasn&#39;t the correct time or place, she decided to bring the scenario to the internet for speculation._ewan_ thinks OP&#39;s parents are missing the point. &quot;My parents told me it wasn&#39;t the correct time or place to bring it up and I embarrassed Aunt Mara.&quot;  NTA - your aunt&#39;s behaviour is what embarrassed her, and it&#39;s going to have done so regardless of when you brought it up. breathingnitrogen thinks Mara deserved to be called out, no matter the timing. Your aunt disgusts me. You&#39;re NTA, and my heart goes out to Reese. Special_Koala_1093 thinks Mara was only embarrassed for being &quot;caught&quot; and that she knows full well what she&#39;s doing. NTA. If she was embarrassed, she probably does it knowingly, knows it is looked down upon but still doesn&#39;t change a thing. Good for you for standing up for your cousin. princessnokia_ thanked OP for standing up for Reese. NTA. As someone who was the least favorite child, I respect you for speaking up on it and acknowledging it. I&#39;m sure she&#39;s used to being told she&#39;s sensitive or making things up when she tries to bring it up, so she probably feels validated knowing she isn&#39;t crazy. mad_dog_the1st thinks OP did a good job opening the door for Mara to make changes down the road if she wants to. NTA. It may not have been the &quot;best time&quot; but if no one acknowledges the elephant in the room then nothing can change. Your aunt Mara may not have even realized what&#39;s she&#39;s been doing, or she does and actively doesn&#39;t give a crap. Either way, pressure from others in the family to treat Reese with more fairness can be helpful.  Honestly, if things keep on the way they are Reese will eventually grow up, move out and cut contact with her mother. Then your aunt will actively wonder why her oldest daughter wants nothing to do with her. You made room for your aunt to change her behavior and possibly, if not already too late, keep that from happening.  So, honestly good on you for standing up for your cousin. Keep standing up for her. You might be the only one in the family that IS actively supporting and encouraging her. Sometimes the truth hurts and your aunt and parents can soak it in. Hopefully, they do. While it&#39;s clear the internet supports OP and Reese, the real question is whether OP&#39;s parents and grandma will join her in intervening against Mara&#39;s toxic parenting.