Single Dad Refuses to Go on Family Trip Unless His Nephew's Friend Is Disinvited – and His Reason Goes Viral

A single dad is opening up about why he’s refusing to go on his family’s upcoming annual vacation.

The 43-year-old revealed that he won’t be partaking in the family trip this year if his nephew’s friend is invited, he explained on Reddit.

In the post, he says his decision is a way of protecting his 15-year-old daughter, Emily, who he claims has been severely bullied by his nephew’s friend Jeff.

“I am really close to my family, consisting of my siblings, their spouses, their kids, and my parents,” he begins the post. “Every year we go on a vacation this time of year for two weeks, and come back right before Christmas. We are supposed to leave a week from today.”

While reviewing the trip plans with his sister, he discovered his nephew’s friend would also be tagging along.

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“I actually almost lost it,” the user wrote. “I told her, admittedly without thinking, that we weren’t going, and she began begging me, talking about tradition and family and blah blah.”

He first told his sister that he would happily “eat my portion of the cost” and not go, but “after a longer conversation, I said I’ll go if they disinvite Jeff.”

Elsewhere in the post, he elaborated on some of the ways Jeff has “tormented” his daughter at school.

“I’ve talked to the school, we’ve had meetings with his parents, she’s switched around classes extensively, but he still goes out of his way to pick on Emily,” the user says. “She has told me herself that she can deal with name calling, but it doesn’t stop there.”

He alleges, “He pulls her hair, rips her clothes, destroys her things, like this kid is a full-fledged nightmare. They even got into a fist fight that they were both suspended for last year because he stole her backpack and put it into a full toilet in the boys' bathroom.”

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The man acknowledges that Jeff is not as lucky as his daughter, as he “lives in a really unstable environment both financially and emotionally” with parents who he claims aren’t as attentive.

After his sister argued that Jeff “needed a break from his toxic home life,” the Redditor responded, “I respect that, but why does that mean I have to put my daughter in a house with her tormentor for two weeks?”

He explains that he put his foot down and told his sister he would not be attending the trip with his daughter — but the situation quickly erupted into “pure chaos.”

“My family is split,” he says. “My parents are begging me to go, I’m getting texts near constantly. My daughter told me she’s not going if Jeff is going. She had a full blown panic attack over it."

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In the comments section, many users sided with the single dad for protecting his daughter and not making excuses for Jeff’s behavior.

“Jeff's situation may be tragic, but your priority should always be your daughter, and it sounds like you've got your priorities straight,” one person commented. “Stick to your stance. Jeff is not your responsibility, and asking you to sacrifice your daughter's mental well-being for a child who has repeatedly tormented her is downright cruel.”

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Another user suggested the dad take his daughter on a separate vacation “just the 2 of you, and have an awesome time.”

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