Some parents share custody on paper, but not in spirit.

One single dad went above and beyond to nurture his teenage son, but when his ex-wife didn’t show the same support, one pointed set of questions at their teen’s birthday party made it abundantly clear that something needed to change.

Read on for the full story!

AITAH for giving my wife a quiz on our child?

My ex-wife, “Melissa” (37F), and I had our son, “Matthew” (16M), really young.

I was only 18 at the time — now 34.

Their relationship went through lots of ebbs and flows.

The few years following his arrival were a whirlwind.

I was in college, tackling as much as I realistically could each semester (summers included) so that I could start my career as quickly as possible.

Melissa and I divorced pretty much immediately after I secured a steady position for myself post-university.

In Melissa’s absence, he finally found someone who was there for him through thick and thin.

Throughout it all, my little village was there for me.

There were a few people by my side, but particularly my mom and my childhood friend, “Vincent” (38M).

He was there through first giggles, diaper changes, me sobbing at 3 a.m. worried I was the worst dad in the world, etc.

Then we got married, which means he stuck around through last-minute school project supply runs, being the go-to calculus homework helper, and moonlighting as a driving instructor.

But Melissa continued to drop the ball on her parenting duties.

Mine and Melissa’s lives look very different from one another’s these days.

It really doesn’t sit well with me, how uninvolved she is.

We have a week-by-week custody agreement, but it doesn’t seem like Matthew is allowed to have much of a life at her house.

Their son’s birthday made her lack of involvement abundantly clear.

His birthday was last Saturday.

I’m always in charge of throwing the parties, and I enjoy that.

But it was just yet another year of watching the painful reminders that she is so hands-off.

It became clear just how little she knew about their son.

At one point, I asked her to hand something to Matthew’s best friend.

This is a kid who practically lives at my house he’s over there so much — and she couldn’t identify him by name.

I had to point him out to her.

So finally, he decided to confront her.

Later that night, I pulled her aside and was just talking about how sad it was.

I asked her a few questions, like what video game is he interested in right now.

What’s his shoe size.

Who are his close friends.

Just basic questions a parent should know about their kid, and she struggled to answer any of them.

She left in a huff, and now he wonders if he took things too far.

She left pretty soon after, claiming I had no right to “give her a quiz on her own child.”

AITAH?

Seems like this quiz more than made its point.

Reddit is sure to have some strong opinions.

Maybe it’s time to revisit this custody split.

This user offers an interesting perspective on the effects of an uninvolved parent from the child’s point of view.

When Matthew gets older, he luckily won’t have to tolerate his mother’s behavior any longer.

This fragmented attention from his mother can’t be good for Matthew’s mental health.

If his ex-wife truly couldn’t answer even simple questions about their son, then that told him all he needed to know.

Her answers made it clear that some people only show up when it’s convenient for them.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.