Dad faces backlash over reaction to daughter’s ‘normal’ life decision: ‘That’s completely her choice’

A mom and her ex-husband are arguing about their daughter’s nickname. 

The mom went on Reddit’s “Am I the A******” to settle the issue. The father seemed to get upset when she started to call her daughter Elle, instead of her given name Ethel. 

“My ex-husband and I have a 10-year-old daughter,” she wrote. “When I was pregnant, my ex-husband repeatedly requested we name her after his dead mother, Ethel. I wasn’t a fan but after a while, I relented. From infancy, it felt strange calling her that, she just didn’t seem it. My ex and I divorced two years later and I took to calling her Elle as a nickname. Due to the nature of his work, ex gets her on weekends. He always called her Ethel and for eight years, she seemed to have no problem with either. Her friends did take to calling her Elle though, which my ex was fine with. For the past six months, however, my daughter has stopped using Ethel.” 

The 10-year-old told her father to call her by the nickname, which seemed to set him off. 

“He is furious with me for starting this nickname and basically erasing why he wanted to name her after his mom,” she said. “Keep in mind, I don’t solely call her Elle and have used Ethel for legal documents, when talking to her, etc. Elle just came out more. My argument is she has been called both for years… it’s her name, her choice.”

Reddit users felt the decision was up to the daughter.

“That’s completely her choice because it’s her name,” she said

“It’s perfectly natural and normal. We own our names, not our parents,” another wrote.

“Our children are not obligated to keep the names we give them,” someone added

If you enjoyed this story, check out this article about a mom who called out a baker when her gender reveal cake went horribly wrong.

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