“Parenting a teenager is a rollercoaster, and this time, it came with an unexpected twist. My 15-year-old stepdaughter, who I adopted after marrying her mother, has been going through a rebellious phase. After a recent disagreement where she reminded me that I’m ‘not her dad,’ I tried to handle it calmly. Fast forward to a grocery trip, and she said, ‘I’m hungry. I need food.’ Without thinking, I replied with, ‘Hi, Hungry, I’m not your dad.’ My son burst out laughing, but my stepdaughter went silent, and my wife said I crossed a line…” (continue below)

“AITA for making a dad joke?”

“My stepdaughter was about a year old when I married her mother. My stepdaughter’s father died before she was born. I adopted her.

She is currently 15, and she’s rebelling about almost everything. She did something bad, so while picking her up, I set up a punishment for her.

Then she said, ‘You’re not my dad. I don’t have to follow you.’ Honestly, I got a bit hurt from that. But I understand that she didn’t mean it and that she’ll probably change. I just replied, ‘I’m still your legal guardian for the next three years, and as long as you’re in my house, you have to follow my rules.’ That happened about two days ago.

So our family was going grocery shopping when my stepdaughter said, ‘I’m hungry. I need food.’ I decide to be extremely cheeky and say, ‘Hi, Hungry, I’m not your dad.’ My son just started to laugh uncontrollably. My daughter was just quiet with embarrassment.

And my wife was berating me ‘not to stoop down to her level.’ I honestly thought it was a funny dad joke. And my son agrees. So AITA?”