He Didn’t Attend His Own Birthday Dinner After His Parents Booked A Restaurant That Was More Accommodating For His Siblings With Special Needs
When you have siblings with special needs or who need special accommodations when you go anywhere, there’s a chance your parents or guardians often overlook you.
One teenager decided not to attend the birthday dinner his parents arranged for him after they ignored his requests and booked a more accommodating place for his siblings. Now, he’s dealing with a lot of family drama.
He recently turned 16 and has three siblings.
“My older sister has Down syndrome and is medically complex with complex needs,” he explained.
“She also has food allergies. My younger sister has a host of food allergies, and some of them are very serious.”
“She’s also on the spectrum. Then, we have my younger brother [who] has a lot of medical issues related to food and allergies that go along with [them]. We always try to make sure places [we go to] are accessible for them.”
Because of his siblings’ special needs, he often gets overlooked by his parents. While he understands his parents do a lot for their family, he also has noticed that they often don’t give him what he wants or needs to accommodate his siblings.
He hardly receives any form of special attention from his parents, and when they try to give it to him, they often fail.
This became more apparent during his 16th birthday when his parents couldn’t even take him to his favorite restaurant for dinner.
Alena Ozerova – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
“My parents proclaim they always get their kids favorite food from their favorite restaurant for their birthdays each year,” he explained.
“This year, my parents made a big deal over me turning 16, and they told me to pick my favorite place for us to have a family dinner for my birthday, a family dinner that included extended family.”
His favorite local restaurant is an Indian food restaurant. He loves their samosas. However, he hardly gets to go or even order takeout from the restaurant, as his parents deemed it “unsafe” for his siblings and their allergies.
When he told his parents he really wanted to eat at the Indian restaurant for his birthday, they told him they couldn’t go there, even though they told him to pick his favorite place for dinner.
His parents then asked him if they wanted to go somewhere that would accommodate his siblings, and he said no, that he really wanted to go to the Indian restaurant. They gave him a funny look and told him they’d think about it.
A few weeks later, his parents asked him again where he’d want to eat for his birthday, and he told them his answer had not changed.
“They asked me if I could really enjoy my birthday knowing it wasn’t accessible and safe for my siblings to eat there, and I said yes since it’s meant to be my birthday and they wanted me to [pick] my favorite restaurant,” he recalled.
“They told me they would book ‘the family favorite’ and went ahead and did that. The ‘family favorite’ [restaurant] has nothing I actually like. I just tolerate it.”
His parents went ahead and planned a big dinner at their chosen restaurant. However, after everything that had happened, he was so upset and decided not to show up to his birthday dinner. His parents were furious and grounded him for over a week.
While his parents are angry with him, his grandparents think his actions were justified.
Was he wrong to skip his birthday dinner?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
More About:Relationships