A father has stunned the internet by sharing the moment he had to tell his daughter that her new girlfriend was his ex-lover.
In a post on Reddit’s “Today I F***** Up” subreddit, user u/Significant_Ad_4529 explained the unusual and slightly awkward scenario.
The 40-year-old man explained that his 21-year-old daughter started dating someone new. But things were about to get a little complicated.
“About a year ago, I met this woman in a bar, we had a few drinks, and we ended up at her place. Things went well, and after a few dates, I decided to lay down what I wanted in a relationship,” the man explained. “We discussed it, and she wanted to have a kid, but I already had the pleasure of raising my daughter and was unwilling to do it again. So we decided to break it off. I never told my daughter because it wasn’t anything serious.”
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A month later, he explained he had a call from his daughter, telling him that she went on an “amazing date.”
“I was happy for her and wished her the best with future encounters. Well, after a few weeks and several dates, they decided to make it official. So, my daughter changed her relationship status on Facebook and posted a picture of her and my ex,” said the dad. “The wave of shock that rushed over me was, to say the least, paralyzing. I didn’t know what to do so I called my daughter and invited her over alone to talk.”
When the father and daughter sat down together, he explained everything and his daughter was, of course, stunned.
“As you would expect, she did not take it well at all. Especially because she and my ex planned on inviting me to a meal later in the week, which would have been horribly awkward,” he said.
“My daughter left shortly after and apparently talked to her girlfriend,” added the dad. “Once my daughter showed my ex a picture of me, apparently she knew right away, and expectedly, they ended the relationship.”
Dad’s avoiding their children’s partner isn’t uncommon, and relationships can cause rifts between parents and their children. But in this case, psychotherapist and founder of Key for Change, Keeley Taverner, told Newsweek that the father did the right thing.
“The father was transparent with his daughter and that’s always healthy. He was upfront and kept no secrets from his daughter,” Taverner said.
“Secrecy and lies break relationships, it compromises trust, and feelings of betrayal are not easy to overcome,” she added. “All of which are not great for healthy wholesome relationships. It’s not explicitly said, but it appears the father did not tell the daughter what to do. This is a healthy response, he left her to make the decision.”
In over 1,500 comments, people on Reddit agreed.
“Good on you for nipping this in the bud right away and not trying to hide it from your daughter,” said Redditor AsereQueBola. “That your relationship is strong enough to be transparent with her like this is something you should be proud of yourself for.”
Commenter Brittanylolol agreed and said: “Neither of you are in the wrong for dating that woman. I’m sure she’s just weirded out right now, but things will go back to normal.”
In a later update, the dad explained that his daughter had seen the post, and that their relationship was ok following the awkwardness.
“Me and my daughter are fine. It’s still a bit of an elephant in the room. My daughter jokingly sent me a picture of a woman she planned to meet up with with the caption: ‘Is she safe?’ so, we are laughing about it in a limited fashion,” he said. “I’m glad to say that I think my daughter and I will make it past this as things are currently returning to normal, albeit slowly.”
Newsweek reached out to u/Significant_Ad_4529 via Reddit for comment. We were not able to verify the details of this case.
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