One time, TikToker @jackolopeandhuckleberry was in a long-distance relationship with a guy who was a “gentle parent,” and it was an absolute nightmare. She had been dating him for a couple of months when she finally met his son. After that, she stopped seeing him.
So, they decided to go to the Renaissance Festival together with their kids. She didn’t know he was a gentle parent at the time.
Back then, the phrase was unheard of. But it all became clear when his parenting skills were put to the test. Apparently, his idea of parenting was to let his son run amok.
“He wouldn’t call me by my name, even though I thought it was rude,” she recalled. “His dad said that he was being creative and to make him call me by my name would stifle his creativity, and I’m like, this is ridiculous.”
It was a long drive to the festival, and this kid was doing his best to annoy everyone. Right before they arrived, she took out the tickets for the festival.
The little boy demanded to hold the tickets. She told him no, but his father immediately reprimanded her because she was showing that she didn’t trust him, which was bad for his self-esteem.
She had purchased the tickets, and they were quite expensive, so she compromised by letting him hold two tickets. Ten minutes later, they arrived at the gate. She had her two tickets for herself and her own child, but the other two were nowhere to be found.
The dad did not check his kid’s pockets because he trusted him to do it on his own. He was furious at @jackolopeandhuckleberry for being right.
“You don’t give a four-year-old really expensive tickets to get into an event,” she pointed out. “Of course I’m right. I don’t care about his self-esteem; I care about losing $180.”
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They looked everywhere for the missing tickets, but couldn’t find them. She suggested that he buy new ones at the gate. He pouted and told her that it was supposed to be her treat, but there was no way she was buying another set of tickets for them.
He said they would just wait in the car, so she and her son went into the festival without them. Eventually, he decided to buy tickets and came in to hang out with them, but the whole day was miserable.
Later that night, she received a phone call from a strange number. He told her that it was his ex-wife calling. When she asked why his ex-wife would have her number, he explained that he gave it to her because @jackolopeandhuckleberry was going to be around their kids.
Since they were in a long-distance relationship, she invited her boyfriend and his kid to spend the night at her house. He informed her that his son woke up at five in the morning, so everyone else needed to be awake at that time, too; otherwise, he would throw a tantrum.
“So, he wasn’t kidding. 5 a.m. comes, his kid gets up bright and early, has fits, yelling, screaming, wants everybody up, but I’m not getting up,” she stated. “He can keep me awake, but I’m not coming out of that room.”
All of a sudden, she heard the doorbell start going off repeatedly. The little boy had gotten out onto the porch and was ringing the doorbell and screaming in a desperate attempt to wake everyone up. She got up to tell the father to control the situation and that she was not coming out of her room until she was ready.
After that, she stopped dating this guy and was glad she didn’t have to deal with that mess any longer.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
