There are certain phases of parenthood that are more arduous than others. There is the new-born stage where the parents struggle to sleep. The toddler age is annoying as “no” is the kid’s favorite word and teenage is another difficult stage for various reasons. There are a lot of hormones, a lot of growing, and arguments in even the closest families- and even more complications when there are communication challenges.

This was an issue that one family was going through. The parents were no longer romantically connected but they did share parenting responsibility. Something had come up with their teenager which has led to a disagreement between them. To find a way to resolve their differences, the dad (aka OP) had shared on Reddit what was going on. He expected that someone would be able to provide him with some helpful suggestions.

The OP started by giving details about his family. He explained that at the center of the issue, he was having, is his 11-year-old son. He and his ex-wife had 50/50 custody and split the majority of their expenses. They divided childcare costs and neither of them paid child support. For a long time, the arrangement had served them well. However, things started to change because their son was about to set foot into puberty- a time when children grow very quickly. Their preteen son’s maturation has had a significant impact.

The OP revealed that as his son was hitting puberty, his appetite had stepped up. Anyone who had a teenager or two at home could vouch for the fact that when the kids were at the point of growing up, they ate an abundance of food. It was much worse if they were physically active and their groceries didn't stretch as far as they used to.

The dad shared with Reddit that he ate a lot but was still thin. He generally bought rations from a regular shop but his ex shopped at Whole Foods. As their son was eating more these days, his ex-wife wanted them to talk about their understood child support agreement again. She grumbled that their son’s appetite had caused her grocery bill to get tripled. She then asked him to turn in $50 a week to make up for it.

The OP confessed that contributing some extra money was not a big deal for him as he was doing well financially. However, it didn't feel right to him as he followed the principles. Therefore, he refused and asked her to shop somewhere else. He recalled that she said she was trying to include healthy food in their son’s diet and that was why it was expensive.

The father didn't agree with the rationale, so he informed her that it was her responsibility to deal with the rising food prices. He made it clear to her that if he gave her $50, he would expect a lunch in return.

It was at this point that OP and his ex were unable to reach an arrangement. OP, on the other hand, wasn't sure if refusing to pay her the extra cash made him a bad person, so he asked the people on Reddit for their opinions. One person said that it was her choice to shop at an expensive store and therefore he was not bound to aid her. Another said that they could eat healthy on a small budget and if she couldn't find an economical way to shop and cook smartly, it was her problem.