In case some parents here are not aware of this–taking care of your children is not optional. You don’t get to check out of raising your kids just because you don’t feel like it, that is simply not how parenting works. No matter how difficult your kids may be, they are your kids, and you need to be there for them, no questions asked.

If a parent is unwilling to do that for their kid, they should not expect their kids to act any differently towards them. Children do not have the responsibility to help their parents if they have never been there for them in the times that matter the most, and any parent who thinks otherwise is setting themselves up for disappointment. A disappointment they are solely responsible for.

Unfortunately, we hear countless stories about children who lose their hope of ever having a healthy relationship with their parents and decide to give up on that relationship before it is too late. It is rarely the kids’ fault, just like it is not the kid’s fault in the story down below.