I (F16) normally watch the superbowl with my family every year. I never really understood football but I like hanging out with my family, so I’ll watch it with them every year.
This year I got distracted by a game that I was playing and when I had looked at the time, the first quarter had ended. I got out of my room and my mom was cooking some delicious food. I watched a little bit of the super bowl and had gotten a little bored. My mom had noticed and said that I can go to my room to continue playing my game (Spyro the dragon). I said okay and had asked my mom to come get me when the halftime show started since I liked Bad Bunny’s music. She said she would and I went to my room to play.
After about an hour, I noticed my mom never came to get me. So I got out of my room and went to the kitchen. I had asked my mom if the halftime show had passed already and she said yes and said that she didnt understand what bad bunny was saying. I said that I really wanted to watch it and I was a little upset she didn’t get me. She didnt apologize or say she forgot, instead she said "I know but was making something and I couldn’t walk away from it." She was making a salad and my room is 12 steps away from the kitchen. I would have understood, and it wouldnt have upset me if she had forgotten to get me when the halftime show started.
I then said "oh okay." And for some reason that pissed my mom off a little. She had raised her voice a bit saying "I dont understand why you are upset. If you really wanted to watch bad bunny perform so bad, you would have looked up the time he would be on." I had told her I was playing a game on my Playstation and that i wasn’t looking at my phone and for some reason that pissed my step dad off. He yelled at me saying that im "always playing games like my brothers" and "if you would have paid attention, you would have seen the halftime show you so desperately wanted to watch."
I got annoyed and my mom automatically started defending him. I sighed a little and walked back to my room. I shut off my Playstation and texted my friend. She comforted me a little and we called for a little bit. Its now the middle of the night (at the time of writing this) and still never got an apology even though I had apologized to my parents for getting upset.
I know I could watch the halftime show on YouTube, and I did, but I wanted to watch live.
Please tell me if I was or wasn’t the a-hole, because I feel like I was and have been thinking about it ever since it happened..
NAH. It’s not that you’re an asshole, but if there’s something you want to watch you can just be there on time right? Take care of the things you care about. It’s your responsibility to be where you want to be, not your parents.
YTA. You know approximately when it comes on, pause your game and go check.
Yeah, sorry, YTA. You wanted to watch it live, nothing was stopping you – you could have stayed and watched, you could have checked back more often, you could have looked up online to see when the game was getting to halftime. When something is important to you, you put in effort for it. You can’t expect others to put in more effort for things that matter to you than you yourself are even willing to do.
YTA
If you’re going to mentally check out of a family event, it’s a bit rich to ask them to be your personal alarm clock for an appointment to grace them with your presence.
While the OP could and probably should have stayed to watch the game, you can’t set an alarm for a halftime show because it comes on after the second quarter, and with flags, penalties, time-outs, etc., you don’t know when that will be.
How do you know your mom was making the salad when the halftime show started?
If she knew she’d be cooking and maybe couldn’t stop in the middle to get you, she shouldn’t have said she would. But if she thought she’d be able to and then really was in the middle of something, well, it happens.
The other point is you could have kept an eye on the clock. It’s true, you didn’t think you had to, but if you knew your mom was in the middle of cooking, it probably would have been better to keep track of the time yourself. And probably even if she wasn’t cooking.
Also, I’m a little confused by “My mom . . . said that I can go to my room to continue playing my game.” Did you need permission to do that?
Nta, but certainly immature. Look the time up and set an alarm.
YTA Just as YOU can get immersed or forget about a thing, other people can have the same thing going on. They get focused on whatever they focus on and forget about stuff outside it.
YTA. If it’s so important for you to watch it live (why?—what’s the difference?) you can check in with the watchers about the progression of the game.
NTA. Since when does a salad burn if you walk away for 10 seconds? She forgot, felt guilty, and decided to attack you rather than just say sorry.
ESH, gently. You, because if it was important, you would have checked a couple times to be sure not to miss it. You had every chance to go in and watch with your family. You just didn’t keep a close eye on it.
Your mother, because she said she would come and get you when half time was on, and she blew it off. Then gave a lame excuse. And your stepfather blamed you for it, after you were told your mother would get you.
I’m sorry, OP. I think you wanted that cozy togetherness of family time, watching the show with everyone live. And you were let down. I just think you’ve got to watch out for your own interests a bit more now.
If you wanted watch you you could have watched it.
No one stopped you but you.
YTA
You’re 16, not 6. It’s not your mommy’s job to make sure you don’t miss something you want to watch.
NTA- your mom failed to do something that she told you that she would do. That’s a crap move, and she should have apologized and explained why instead of blowing up. Your step-dad didn’t need to get involved at all. They really overreacted.
Almost ESH, but not. Because yes, you could’ve kept an eye on the time & taken responsibility for getting yourself to the living room on time, BUT why would you when you’d been assured you’d get a reminder?
Yes this sucks for everyone involved but it didn’t need to if they would have just reacted calmly instead of with anger.