People Admit To Their Worst Moments in These 'Am I The Jerk?' Stories

"My parents called for a family meeting last Sunday and said they were realizing that we didn't have the happy little tight-knit family they had expected to have. They expressed that we had all been closer when we were little kids. For context it's me (16m), my brother James (14m), and my other brother Easton (12m).

But now it felt like we never spent time as brothers, especially me James, and that sharing a room they would have expected more from us. My parents said they wanted us to all be open and honest about how we felt and to express if we had any issues with the family to get out of the way. They said they weren't going to take a turn until after the three of us spoke first. And we couldn't leave until we opened up and said everything.

I told them I felt like they had somewhat unrealistic goals, that they ignored some stuff that had been mentioned to them in the past that would have made the lack of closeness less of a surprise, and that it was weird for them to pretend they had no idea of anything going on.

I admitted that I hated sharing a room with James. That personality-wise, he and I clash, and he relies too much on being the younger brother and getting his way, which annoys me. I said I had told them this before. James will set up these sleepover nights for him and me on the floor and he'll expect me to play football outside with him until it's close to midnight and then go in and watch movies that bore me to tears and sleep in our sleeping bags instead of our beds.

I said he started insisting we do things he enjoys when we were like 8 and 10 and ever since that point hanging out with him has not been fun for me, it has not made me feel closer to him. I admitted that I would rather share with Easton. I also said I had brought this stuff to my parent's attention before. And even complained when he was messing up my side of the room and left me to clean up, which my parents expected me to do instead of him. I also mentioned that I hate hanging out with his friends who I have nothing in common with.

I told my parents they overlooked James being mean to Easton. It might be due to jealousy and resentment that I'm closer to Easton or it might be due to Easton being the youngest. But they would never let me say to James what James can say to Easton.

I also said they treat us like we're little kids. They will tell us to go hang with much younger kids and do their activities at family houses and they'll tell us no video games until we play outside. And that even after 16 years of knowing me, they still can't accept that I don't like sports and it's not my idea of fun to kick a ball or run around and it never has been.

James was upset about the stuff I said about him. Especially about not wanting to hang out with him and his friends. My parents were furious with me and said I had no right to say all that. I said I was doing what they asked and they said that wasn't what they asked for.

AITJ?"

Another User Comments:

"NTJ. Your parents didn’t think this through. You did, though. If you had a therapist in the room they would have applauded you for getting to the heart of the matter as long as you weren’t gratuitously cruel to your bro in how you said it, such as by name calling, contemptuous looks, etc. You deserved an A here.

You understood the assignment perfectly and were open and honest." Curious-One4595

Another User Comments:

"NTJ and your parents were fools to think a conversation like that was ever going to go well. I guess just like pretending you were one big, happy family, you were supposed to lie to preserve the illusion.

They are completely wrong for being upset with you. Truth hurts sometimes." Leopard-Recent

Another User Comments:

"NTJ. Your parents are jerks. They're not dealing with reality. I can see where your brother gets it from. They make up in their head how things are going to go, and then get upset when it doesn't work out that way.

They asked you to be open and honest about your feelings and then told you that you have no right to say it. That's ridiculous. They're not trying to solve the problem, it's almost as if they're looking for someone else to blame." AbazabaYouMyOnlyFren