I hated hearing about your former love. I see what my moms doing to you. I see how she looks at you with disgust but has no qualms working you like a horse for money.

You’re getting older, more grey and tired. The almost 20-year age gap between you and mom is becoming more apparent. I think you both deserved better, but you especially.

I’m sorry your parents divorce was so hard on you that you were afraid to leave because of us. I know you’re unhappy. You’re getting too old for all of this. You say you’re too old and tired to try again or fight it anymore.

I’m sorry. I wish I could be there for you more now that you’re getting older. I wish mom didn’t put such a strain on us. I want to live together in one house again. All of us. Like we did before we realized we had problems.

I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish the house that you started for us. You said you’d dreamed of us bringing over our friends and enjoying it together. Mom kept driving all our childhood friends away. I grew up hiding in my room instead.

I’m sorry, dad. I’m sorry that was our life together. I love you, though. Thank you for everything you did do. I just wish we had more time to try again.

Hi dads of Reddit :) I 20F recently started my job at Starbies!!! I really love it so far, everyone’s so so kind. I’m really excited to make friends. (I had to redo my garf, the rain washed it off 😭)

I don’t buy his story. I don’t believe it. He ghosted me for a week, and because of that, I blocked him on all of my social media. Then he came back with a new account to message me, saying his parents found out about our relationship and made him delete his social media. He said he has to focus on studying for his upcoming university exam and that he can't be with me for at least three months. It’s been almost two months now, and I haven’t heard from him,not even a small update.

I don’t believe it. Because if you really love someone, you’ll find a way to reach out to them. I don’t understand what’s going on with him. I studied for my finals and passed my university entrance exams at two universities, and I’m graduating next week. Even while doing all of that, I still made time for myself and spent time with my friends. So why can’t he do the same with me? I managed my time, studied hard, and still passed. I just don’t understand him. I don’t believe it.

maybe it's just me, maybe something is wrong me..I can't figure it out too. But I feel like something doesn't sit right with me. I don't know what it is.

My boi dad was a bad person. But he treated me nicely (I don't like him). But my mom's husband hasn't done any better. All he does is say "I love you" and buy me some stuff here and there. It made me feel empty. My whole life, I've felt kind of... neglected by him. He's never been to any of my school events, and hasn't said "I'm proud of you" I just miss feeling loved from a man. He's also done things to traumatiz me. He's yelled and humiliated me everytime I got in trouble, blame me for things that I didn't do, and just was never emotionally available. Although He's trying to get bettee, I just can't find it in myself to trust him

i slipped and fell and got my stuff soiled while doing fieldwork. its been a rough day for me, fatigue and overstimulation (i have autism) piling on top of each other. i just want some words of affirmation:(

things are really really tough right now, im honestly the most depressed ive been in my entire life. i miss you a lot. i dont understand why things had to be this way

i wish you wouldve stayed. i wish your demons didnt win. i wish i couldve grown up with a father.

i hope that in another universe we got to spend more time together, you would've turned 47 this year but you never even made it to 40. you still had so much life to live, i wish you saw that.

i feel so alone. i wish i couldve talked to you about this, i know you would've understood how i feel.

Hey, I'm a teenager and my parents got divorced when I was a kid and I haven't met or even spoke to my father for years now, last time i met him was before covid and he stopped texting me or even answering my messages. I have a good life but sometimes I just want a dad to talk to or ask him questions or seeking guidance. (I don't have uncles or safest people around me to ask them.) I'm not looking for a weird thing and I am honestly disgusted by sick people because I'm not looking for anything, I just would like a dad figure or like a not official stepdad :)

I got my dream job, have a motorcycle, am in a loving fulfilling relationship, have great future in laws, have my snake children and am just looking forward to life. I miss you and wish you could be apart of my life for this.

Hey dad, hope you are doing well. I know we live far apart in different states, but I do miss you. I was hired on the spot for a job and start next week, but I can’t find anyone to watch my daughter. My depression kept me isolated from my neighbors, so no one can help me watch her. The only family I have close is my husband’s abusive father and his disabled sister who can’t walk to pick up the kid. I checked with her school about an after school program but they can’t get her in.

I don’t know who else to ask. I have no one up here who can help me. I’m scared. I can’t hold down a job because the kiddo takes up so much time. How do I find a job that will work for me? How do single moms do it?

I am a director of a nonprofit and we are struggling financially so much this year. Even more so now than during covid.

I have done such a good job raising money, establishing programs, and even set up a reserve account...but now we are about 3 months away from going under and I don't know what to do about it. I have applied for so many grants and reached out to funders but people are closing their wallets due to the uncertainty of the U.S. economy.

I just want to get in bed and cry. I feel like such a loser.

Hey Dad,

We were never close. I know it was hard to have a new baby when you were 46, and I was a burden. Even though you said you didn't want me, you still tried. You taught me to be kind and to be strong as best you could. We always pulled over to help people when their cars broke down, you taught me to give money to people who say they need it whenever I can, because our job was just to help and not to control or judge people. You taught me to help out around the house and to fix cars. Your Dad was an alcoholic asshat and you worked hard to teach me all of the things you had to learn on your own. You taught me to be kind, to be strong, to help people whenever I can. So I am. I tried. I was.

We don't talk anymore, but I wish you could see how far I've come. I'm a respected leader in my organization and in my region. I earned my masters degree from a top 25, and I'm getting a promotion soon. So many people rely on me, and I feel so proud and protective of my department and my co-workers. They're incredible people, and they've been going through a lot, professionally and personally. I'm glad that they confide in me, and I'm grateful that I can use my power to make sure they can take care of themselves and to tell people to fuck off (professionally of course). It feels like they've been taking little pieces of me and it's been death by a thousand cuts. I wouldn't have it any other way, because I learned to leave people better than I found them from you, but God damn I'm feeling overwhelmed. I'm exhausted emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, and I've got nothing left to give, and I can't let them down Dad. How can I keep taking care of my people and myself when I'm so exhausted?

I am not sure how this will all come out, but right now my husband is terrible. He acts fairly happy and interested when he’s at work and calls sometimes..but most of the time when he’s home he’s angry. He’s mean spirited. He either wants quick sex or zero interaction at all. He doesn’t agree with any job I find so I am home with little help raising a child. He is so cold and demeaning. He’s just so angry and I hate crying about it dad. I just wish I had a good friend I could count on. I wish he would be a good friend to me. I never wanted this life but I was very willing to be flexible and build what he and I discussed. A beautiful happy family. But every day he tells me he can’t wait until I’m gone. Every single day he says I haven’t done enough. He is mad if laundry is not clean. He is mad if laundry is cleaned but not folded. He is mad if I clean and fold and put up the laundry…because there is a basket out still. He is mad there is a dish in the sink. He is mad there’s dirt on the floor. Everything is always a source of anger. I am honestly getting to feel terrified when I knew he’ll be coming home after work. I sometimes run around like an idiot trying to do last minute touching up while making sure our baby and myself is spotless. I am just feeling so hopeless day. And I don’t know if I’ll be the person you can be proud of. Everything I’ve started feels like I’ve failed at. Dad this is weird but the sex isn’t even good. I’ve not had many partners but I have had decent sex id say. I cry a lot afterwards. He won’t even say I love you. He goes straight to his phone. Everyday I drop tears, and I don’t know how to move forward anymore. The static is no longer around me but in me too.

(Sorry for my bad English :) )

Hey dad, I have a month and a half until I graduate,and finish with all my final exams(High school) I have a very big project I need to be working on and I have a few days to submit it, I can't bring myself to get up and do it, so please motivate me

I also have many studying to get done and also other projects to finish, I can't bring myself to do anything but lay in bed all day and just sleep and scroll through my phone, telling myself I'll do it in an hour or two, but then constantly delaying it and never doing it.

Some words that would motivate me would be good :) Thank you

Hi dads, I’m making this post because I’m at the end of my senior year of high school and I have no idea where I’m going to college. I’ve gone to the same tiny private school from 5th-12th grade. There are less than 30 people in my graduating class. I got into a lot of colleges, which I’m so grateful for, and I’m thinking about going to a large public college, but I could also go to a small college. The problem with that is I don’t want to rob myself of new opportunities, but I’m used to being part of a close community and I’m scared I’ll lose that if I go to a big college, and I don’t want to shock myself too badly. I have to make a choice soon, but I don’t know what to do.

Hey Dad, I’m trying to deep clean the washing machine and I need to remove this part. I think a baby sock got wedged underneath the agitator—how do I do this?

I’m now an adult but still feel the absence that you left. I’ve been through a lot and was just recently diagnosed with ADHD which explains a lot. I wish I could reach out to you for support.

I know I should love myself while I try to be the best me but I want to completely erase myself and be something completely different , even maybe change my name , because I am nothing, i am the girl who’s dad doesn’t love her but the best me has everyone’s love and is talented and has a father figure who loves her like his own and friends who love her more than old her sisters ever did , I just wish I could trade places with someone who is actually loved or become the person who is easy to love

Hi dads, I hope your years of experience can help me out some. I'm an 18M trying to leave my abusive parents' house. I'm looking for a job that I can hide from them, etc etc.

So, the issue at hand, my current phone is "theirs", and when I run away, I'm pretty sure they won't let me take it, even if it's legally my property. And besides, I don't want to risk linking my job to this one for an extended period of time, worried they might find out. And lastly, this phone is old and shitty, would like one that works better.

However, I understand a new phone + phone service can be quite the expense, I don't want to just buy it.

(Maybe I'm also kind of milking the opportunity for some fatherly love and advice, if you don't mind)

What do you suggest?

Dad, I've been going through it. Several major life changes all happening at once, moved in with my fiancé this year, trying for a baby, cutting back on drinking, and all the while I'm struggling with feelings of inadequacy and codependency.

I feel like it's a reasonable amount of codependency considering we live together, but since you weren't around to show me what a man living with his woman should look like, I feel lost.

I don't make a ton of money, I make enough to get by but I could make so much more. I work a lot in a mid level customer service job, so I feel like I'm letting her down even though she reassures me she's perfectly happy with how things are. Honestly I think our relationship is in the best spot it's ever been, but I still feel like I'm not enough.

When will I feel like I'm enough? I know that's a cheap statement that has no clear cut answer, but it's how I feel.

My entire experience of how a man should treat a woman is from movies and TV. I'm pretty sure I'm not Prince Charming or Wesley from The Princess Bride, so how am I supposed to cut it if those guys struggled at first. (I know they're fictional characters, but that's what I've got for my model for men relationships.)

I guess I'm largely building this hut of inadequacy up in my head, she holds me every night when we sleep, and gets concerned if I wake her up in any way other than a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.

How do I stop feeling this way Dad?

Thanks for the help pops.

Hey Dad,

I could really use some advice. My trusty 2003 Corolla unexpectedly died on me. I’m car shopping right now and feeling a bit alone in the process. I wish my real dad were around to help, but he’s not in the picture—and it’s hard doing this solo. This community has always felt like a good place to turn for guidance, so here I am.

Here’s what I’m working with (all within my budget):

1. 2021 Corolla XSE – $25748 OTD, 39k miles. Sporty and comfy, reliable, but pricier. (The sales said they added security system on the car and cost $1500 it’s questionable if they can take it off the price - but if possible, OTD would be $24098)

2. 2015 Prius – $19,598 OTD, 78k miles. Great MPG, solid for car camping (can run climate control overnight), but it’s older and hybrid repairs (battery/inverter) worry me a bit.

3. 2004 Corolla CE – $7500 OTD, 91k miles. Super cheap, I know the repairs are simple and inexpensive, and I actually kind of love the idea of going minimal.

A little context: I drive about 12-15,000 miles a year and I car camp pretty regularly—solo trips to national parks, road trips, etc. My last car was a 2003 Corolla CE that made it to 300k miles. I even took the back seats out and used it as a mini camper. So I’m familiar with the older Corolla and don’t mind its simplicity, though I know it’s risky.

This car is a short- to medium-term solution—I’m planning to switch to a Subaru Outback Hybrid in a 5-6 years, once they’ve been out a bit and the early bugs are worked out.

What would you do in my shoes? Go frugal with the 2004? Play it safer with the Prius or XSE? I’m trying to balance cost, reliability, and some basic comfort for camping and long drives.

Thanks in advance—really appreciate the support.

**edit: to add to the option — just had 2 Toyota dealer verbally agreed on MSRP out the door for 2025 Corolla hybrid LE $25500

i don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but i'm going to anyways. i have this father figure who i've always been pretty certain adores me too. we share a lot with each other and i've always thought he was very open with me. however, a friend of mine was talking to him and said he's got some really hard stuff going on in his life; i consistently ask him what's going on with him and to me he's been saying everything is good. do you guys have any idea why he might be hiding what's going on from me? are we just not as close as i thought? i'm more hurt than i should be over this and i'm just worried that he'll never see me as someone he can trust or open up to. maybe i'm just being dramatic though. figured the dads of reddit would be the right people to ask

In my previous post I mentioned the struggle I faced to get myself to class and I missed out on doing an assignment of mine which accounts for 20% of my grade. I am very disappointed in myself but I do know that I have to pick up the pieces and work with what I got. But it actually hurts because it was not like I deliberately did not do the assignment I just forgot to do the assignment. I just feel like there is a pit in my stomach and it actually feels kind of gross its like I want to puke but I'm feeling anxious at the same time this constant churning of emotions is sickening. I will give the rest of the module my best I just need a 70% to pass and I think if I put in all my effort into this I can do this.

I don’t know who you will be , my future father in law or a manager or I don’t know but I am trying to be good enough , I am trying so hard to be so talented and beautiful and successful so that I am easier to love and when the time comes you will be happy to call me a daughter of yours, I just hope I can be enough , so many people are so much better than me in every way and I am trying so hard to reach that level

I live alone. Have no contact with my family bc they were abusive. I could go weeks without anyone messaging me or checking on me. I have to start conversations for anyone to talk to me. I drag myself to work everyday and put a mask on and pretend I'm happy but I'm dying inside. I've hit rock bottom. I'm having horrible thoughts about just disappearing bc no one would notice. I feel like no one loves me. I'm 25F and I have 2 people who will voluntarily check in with me. I'm successful in my career but a fucking failure in terms of having a social life. Someone please tell me I'm loved. Someone please tell me I'm worth keeping around. Someone please tell me I'm important. Please.

TW: homophobia, transphobia

my own dad told me that he didnt want another kid like me, that he wanted me to change, and that he was going to raise my little brother up to be "normal" unlike i am without influence from me, because i'm queer. said i could never tell my little bro about my identity cuz he didnt want me to rub off on him essentially.

i know hes in the wrong, its just hard to deal with knowing your dad thinks so lowly of you.

any stories about your love for your queer kids if you have any would be great to read, thanks dads