Greetings, dear readers! It’s your favorite commentator on the bizarre and bewildering world of human behavior, Roger, coming at you with a spicy take on a real Reddit story that’s causing quite the stir in family dynamics. But buckle up, darlings, because this one is a doozy, even by my standards. So, grab your favorite snack, and let’s dive into the peculiar case of sibling rivalry and generational divides. Be warned, you’re in for a ride full of eye rolls, head shakes, and perhaps a giggle or two at the absurdity of it all. And remember, you heard it here first on HotTakes. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Our saga begins with a 17-year-old gentleman (bless his soul for dealing with this) caught in the crossfire of what can only be described as an age-centric obsession of Shakespearean proportions. Here’s the rub: his older sister, hereby known as Mackenzie the Age-Enthusiast, is 32 and has cultivated an *interesting* fixation with their mother’s age, particularly how it correlates to their bond. Mackenzie, it seems, has glorified the idea of being a young mom so much that she mirrored her own mother’s life choices and popped out two kids before the age of 20. Let’s pause for a moment of silence for our protagonist’s patience.
The drama unfolds further as Mackenzie voices out loud (repeatedly, it seems) that she just couldn’t *possibly* fathom being close to a mom who’s more than a cab ride in years away from her. Our hero, bless him, and his younger sister Indie roll their eyes so hard I’m surprised they didn’t find another dimension. This obsession doesn’t only dominate dinner conversations but also seeps into the hallowed scrolls of social media, where Mackenzie apparently can’t resist a good age-gap lamentation. Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it?
Now, dear readers, you must be thinking: surely, this tale can’t twist further? Oh, but it does. While the parents were away (perhaps enjoying a break from age mathematics), our protagonist finally tells Mackenzie her obsession is weirder than pineapple on pizza (a debate for another day). Mackenzie, taken aback, labels him rude and mourns his incomprehension of her profound wisdom. Needless to say, she didn’t take it too well and ran crying to the parental units, who, in a plot twist, side with our young narrator.
Can you believe it? A story where the parents actually see reason? I nearly spilled my tea.
But here’s where I lay it down, darlings: Family is weird, and obsessions are weirder, but imposing your existential crises about age and parenting onto others is like expecting a cat to bark — futile and slightly unnerving. Our young friend here doesn’t owe Mackenzie an apology. If anything, Mackenzie owes herself a moment to reflect on why she’s buying more into numbers than experiences. And darling, that’s not just a hot take; it’s a scorching one.
So here’s the Roger Round-Up: Love your family, share in their peculiarities, but never be afraid to call out the weird, especially when it two-steps over the line of your patience. Being close to your parents isn’t about how many candles are on their birthday cake, it’s about the moments that wouldn’t fit on any cake in the world. And for Mackenzie and anyone else caught in the spiral of an age fixation, remember: age, darling, is just a number, but family drama? That’s forever.
Stay spicy, my friends, and tune in next time for more bewildering tales from the human condition. Roger out.
Original story
I (17m) have two sisters. My older sister is Mackenzie (32f) and my younger sister is Indie (15f). So all three of us have the same biological parents and this is important because when it comes to the weird age fixation Mackenzie only focuses on mom. So our parents were basically my age when Mackenzie was born and in their 30s when they had me and then Indie. Mackenzie has always, and I mean always, fixated on how glad she was mom was only 18 years older than her and how she couldn’t imagine her being older because they’d be less close. Mackenzie internalized this mindset so much that she had her kids when Indie and I were still really young and she refuses to have more because she thinks she’d be an old mom now and believes Indie and I had an old mom. She always makes comments about how weird that mom and Indie are so close because she couldn’t do it at that age gap and stuff. She never mentions this about dad. Like ever.
Indie and I roll our eyes when it comes up and our parents told Mackenzie on occasion that she shouldn’t think like that. Mom said she’d still love and connect with her but she’d have more tools to be a better parent if she’d been older. I think it probably freaked them out when Mackenzie had two kids before 20 to be a really young mom like our mom was to her.
My parents went out of town recently and they us stay with Mackenzie while they were gone. One of the days we were with her Mackenzie started talking about mom’s age again and I told her I find her obsession with that so weird. I told her Indie and I have no problem being close to mom or to dad because they had us in their 30s and can she please shut up about it because 17 years of listening to that gets SO old. Mackenzie said I shouldn’t be so rude and I don’t know what I’m missing out on.
I actually have her soft blocked and unfollowed on social media because she even makes these comments on posts about the age of parents. It’s so annoying.
Mackenzie is pissed at me for calling her obsession weird and she complained to our parents about me. My parents weren’t mad. They even apologized we had to hear that stuff so often. But Mackenzie feels I owe her an apology.
AITA?