I [16 F] just recently came into contact with my dad [40 something M] after 14 years of not seeing him. Without going into the deep details of it all, my mom kept us apart for her own selfish reasons. If anyone is curious, I could clarify further. I stayed with my dad, his wife, and their family for 3 months out of state away from my grandparents I’ve lived with my whole life (that I have a strained relationship with.)
Staying with my dad has done wonders for me- I feel like a whole different person. He encouraged me to try out for this musical production happening at my school and I got an important role.. at the time I was over the moon and agreed without much thought. Afterwards, I realized I couldn’t imagine myself living away from my dad and so I decided to move in right after the play.
Fast forward to today, he dropped me off at my grandparents house (4 and a half hours from my dads house) and I was fine for the most part. But when he drove down the driveway I completely lost control and I’ve been crying my eyes out since. I have struggled with self harm in the past and I’m worried that if I stay here and force myself to go through with the play, I may end up relapsing, but if I go the play may be cancelled and I’d feel so guilty… any advice is appreciated and I’ll clarify or go into more detail as needed.
Sorry if this is a bit jumbled and doesn’t make a lot of sense, I’m in a rough headspace currently.
TLDR: auditioned for a play and got an important role, but that involves me being away from my dad for a couple months and it’s hurting my mental health
2 comments
Wait, wait, wait. Has your dad actually *invited* you to move in with him permanently? You barely know him and you’ve already decided to uproot your entire life to move in with him… But he hasn’t actually asked you to do that, unless you’ve missed out that important context.
Talk to your dad about this. The play and stuff has just started and is months away so if you had to bail now they have time to replace you. Better to be a minor inconvenience now to find someone else to fill in the part than a few weeks or months later.
So if you really need to start living with your dad you can do it without letting everyone in the play down.