“Who is your favorite child?” you might ask any parent. In that situation, the official response is nearly invariably something like “we love them both equally” or “we don’t play favorites” or something like that. In rare instances, you’ll hear them joke about who their favorite child is. Still, they always maintain that all children are treated equally. Though this may not always be the case, they do their best to avoid permanently scarring their children.
Unfortunately, some parents favor their children and don’t even bother to hide it. Enter this Redditor, who received backlash for standing up for his brother, whom his parents openly regarded as a scapegoat while praising his twin sister. So much so that she has been spoiled.
More Info: Reddit
While everyone acknowledges that parenting is difficult, no one denies that parents should not show partiality.
So a 20-year-old male Redditor resorted to the r/AmITheA-Hole forum for help with his problem. OP has twin brothers and sisters named “Joe” and “Jill.” The parents had always desired a daughter, so when they produced twins, the daughter was lavished with affection. Still, as an extra child in this arrangement, Joe was cast as the “scapegoat.”
In the case of OP, he is the oldest grandson on both sides of the family, so he is in a better position, but the problem is that the entire family is playing the favoritism game, not just the parents.
But, because the older brother had a heart, he began to assist Joe—not just because he despised how spoiled the twin sister had become due to their parents’ lavish treatment of her, but also because it was the right thing to do. He didn’t want him to be alone in the family. A worried brother went to Reddit to see if he was making a mistake by supporting his brother, whom his parents are actively scapegoating.
When the parents took Jill shopping, OP continued, he’d take Joe skating with his pals; when the parents were at Jill’s kiddie pageant, the elder brother would drag his buddies to his school musicals. “Small things like that,” however, in the grand scheme of things, those aren’t small things, and we applaud OP for being the best brother ever.
When everyone is older, the twins are about to graduate from high school. Jill is attending university in San Francisco, which is being paid for entirely by her parents. Still, Joe is following the same university in Seattle as OP. Furthermore, he received a full scholarship, which meant that his parents would give him nothing.
While the parents were preoccupied pampering the twin sister, the twin brother’s older brother was always there for him.
As a result, OP began reaching out to folks he knew to check if anyone was hiring next fall. On FaceTime, the two discussed everything, with OP assuring his brother that everything would be alright. In truth, it was probably for the best because it would simply mean that he is no longer dependent on his parents and that they will not impose any conditions if they assist financially.
And it appears that the sister overheard them conversing because she began pestering OP about helping her get work. She, too, began asking him to assist-her in finding a job since she didn’t want her father “nagging” her about it.
When it came to college, the sister noted how supportive her older brother was of his younger brother, but not of her.
The older brother tried to explain respectfully that he doesn’t know anyone in San Francisco and that she’d better ask mum and dad for help. Still, she was displeased, to say the least. The sister began accusing him of favoring Joe over her, which he admitted was correct. Still, she wasn’t trying to be likable with her “golden child” attitude. As a result, he turned to the internet for help in figuring out what was going on.
And it appears that the internet was on OP’s side since the internet declared him not to be the jerk in this circumstance. People mainly stated that he wasn’t the terrible guy, but that he went above and above by being a great big brother, a role model who exhibited more love and support than most of us can say about our own siblings.
People weren’t quick to pass judgment on OP, but they did see hope in the sister, who only needed the same love and support as OP.
On the other hand, others believe that Jill is redeemable and that giving a little more love and explaining the issue of how the parents’ favouritism has led to where things are now could be a crucial turning point in how she develops further. The parents were to blame in this case.
It’s crucial to highlight that some people identified with this story too strongly, having been scapegoat children themselves, and were thankful the big brother took issues into his own hands.
