Recently, Reddit user u/Enockito asked the community: "What's the most hurtful thing your parent ever said to you?" Unfortunately, there were many toxic submissions, proving that some people really don't deserve to be parents. These horrific things most likely damaged their kids for life, and it's deeply unfair.
So, here are some of the most unforgivable things parents had the audacity to say to their children:
Warning: Some submissions include topics of domestic abuse, suicide, and sexual assault. Please proceed with caution.
1. "My mother said this to me while kicking me out of her house: 'I can't believe you expect so much from us just because you got diagnosed with cancer.' I was in the middle of chemotherapy at 25 years old, and I couldn't afford to pay rent on unemployment."
2. "When I was 16, my adopted dad told me: 'I wish we had adopted a girl.' It's been over three decades, and now the man can't even remember my name as dementia takes his mind. I still resent him for that."
3. "Some time ago, I was struggling at adjusting to a new job, and the guy training me was an asshole. I told my mom about it, and she flat out told me to 'man up, otherwise you're not my son.' I've never told her about any personal problems I've had since, and probably never will again."
4. "My dad died when I was 10, and a year or so later when I was having a hard time with it, my mom said I 'should be over it by now.' In 8th grade, my counselor called her and told her I was suicidal, and on the drive home from school she yelled at me. I tried explaining how I felt, and she said: 'If you feel useless, then do the fucking dishes!' She wonders why I hide negative emotions and don't ask her for help anymore."
5. "They said this after a heated argument about why I moved out when I was 18 and sexually assaulted at a party: 'If you didn't want something like that to happen to you, then you shouldn't have put yourself in that situation.' I refuse to move back in with them, and will never forget those words."
6. "My mom said in family therapy that she didn't want to be there, and only came because she promised 'she'd never open up to me. I'm 30, and need to solve my own problems.' I was 'failing my kids as a mom' for 'not teaching them about god.' Fun times."
7. "While having a panic attack: 'You are a burden on me, your siblings, and your friends.' My panic attack proceeded to get worse (duh!)."
8. "'I wish I had aborted you, and I hate you because you look like your damn father.'"
9. "When my mom confronted me about being gay, she said she was thinking of killing herself and my brother. She also said: 'Don’t ever tell your father — he’ll leave us.' When my dad found out about me being gay a year later, he told me: 'Don’t ever tell your mother — she’ll leave us.' No lie."
10. "'I thought I had a good kid with this one, not a loser like you.' My mother asked me to take my 13-year-old sister to the doctor, but she didn’t tell me that it was to check to see if her abortion was 'successful.' She blamed me for my sister getting pregnant, even though I lived in another state. It was the same when she found weed in my sister’s room..."
11. "My mom told me that I was a disappointment when I was 16 years old. I had just gotten my first C in school, and she was furious. She said that I was never going to amount to anything, and that she was ashamed of me — I was devastated. I had always tried my best in school, and I had never gotten a C before. I didn't know what I had done wrong, and I felt like a failure. That one comment from my mom stayed with me for years. It made me feel like I wasn't good enough, and it made me doubt myself. It took me a long time to realize that my mom's words didn't define me. I am not a disappointment, and I am capable of achieving anything I set my mind to."
12. "I was having a 'tantrum' about god knows what at 8 years old. My mom told me that no one will ever love me, and I still think about it to this day."
13. "'When I was pregnant with you it was twins, but I miscarried one. I sure wish it had been you.'"
14. "I had BIG ears when I was really young. My dad always said if I got caught in a wind storm, I'd flap myself to death. It wasn't 'super' mean, but it made my single-digit self cry. I grew into them, btw."
15. "I was having an argument with my mom, and when I told her about some stuff I remembered as a kid, she said: 'Well, I don't remember that happening — so it must've never happened. I choose to live in the reality where it didn't, but you can do whatever you want.' She walked away. Feelings invalidated? Oh, big time."
16. "'I love you, but I don’t like you.'"
17. "They gave me the advice to never have children because all of us (six kids) ruined my mother's life."
18. "'I love [your sister's] kids more than yours.' She justified it by calling my husband and I better parents, my husband's parents as better grandparents, and said my nephews 'needed it more.' This might've been true, but it still stung."
19. And: "Out of the dozens of hurtful things, this one sticks out to me. I wrote a personal essay my senior year of high school – a real earnest one about myself, my values, and my hopes for the future. My teacher loved it, and said it was the best thing I'd ever written (and I always struggled with English class and essay writing). I took it home, my dad read it, furrowed his brow, and said: 'This doesn't sound like you at all.' Then he made me rewrite it, scrubbing out all the parts he didn't like and put in things that weren't true about me. I always wondered if it'd be easier if he openly didn't care about me. He straight-up said: 'I wish you were never born.' A lifetime of someone who 'loves you' in superficial ways like demonstrating open contempt, disgust, and disapproval for who you are has been painful."
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.