Woman Debates Breaking Up with Boyfriend Due to His Disrespectful Behavior When She Met His Parents

Meeting a partner’s family can already be nerve-wracking, but for one woman, the stress didn’t come from her boyfriend’s parents — it came from him.

On Reddit, the woman explained that she has been dating her 28-year-old boyfriend “on and off” for two years. She recently drove two hours to meet his parents for the first time.

“I brought flowers and dressed nicely,” she wrote. “When I arrived he kind of scoffed at me for bringing flowers.”

His parents, however, greeted her warmly. They hugged her and invited her to sit and chat in the living room. But during the hours-long visit, her boyfriend barely participated.

Instead of engaging, she noticed him scrolling through social media and even leaning back with his eyes closed as if he were napping.

“I had a nice time chatting with his parents, but I felt really disrespected, and I kind of felt his parents were put off by him too,” she shared. “I was embarrassed, and it was stressful for me to carry the whole interaction.”

That evening, they went to dinner with his parents and some of their friends. While everyone else enjoyed conversation, her boyfriend stayed glued to his phone. She kept hers in her purse the entire four-hour meal.

“I also caught a few times where his mom was reminding him to say please and thank you to the hosts,” she added.

The couple planned to stay overnight since the drive was long. The next morning, she noticed he was ready to leave the bedroom messy — with towels on the floor and the bed unmade. She ended up tidying the room herself, saying she would never treat her own parents’ home that way.

The woman admitted she now feels “really put off by his behavior” and is considering ending the relationship, though she wonders if she is overreacting.

One commenter responded, “Your bf sounds like a teenager. You’ve been dating on/off for two years & this was the first time meeting the parents? Seems like you have a lot to think about.”

The woman replied, “He has shown me some disrespect in the past and I called him out on it, but I was kind of surprised he was so disrespectful in front of his parents. Maybe you are right, and this was his way of signaling to them I’m not important.”

Another person added, “When you’re with the right person they don’t do things that will confuse you. They act the same way almost all the time, which is caring, loving, respectful and interested in you and your life. Anything less than that is a red flag. The reason this relationship is ‘off and on’ is because it’s bad.”