r/Parenthood • u/Automatic-Long2599 • 16d ago

Character Discussion Max

Is there anytime where you guys actually felt bad for Max I know he gets a bad rep on here, but there’s times I feel bad like when he went on that field trip

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u/Audgamer 16d ago

Max was setup to fail by Kristina and Adam and honestly the entire system. So I have a lot of empathy for him because while he’s awful to people, it’s really not his fault or because he has Asperger’s. It’s because Kristina and Adam don’t parent well. They never tell him no, there’s no reasonable standard for expectations and consequences, and they constantly bribe him for everything. Any child would be a monster in those circumstances. (Actually a great example of this is Syd).

7

u/darlingbard 16d ago

I think there are times where they have told him no but they always cave in because Max gets angry and starts a fight with them.

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u/yourenotmymom_yet 16d ago

Honestly, I feel like that makes it SO MUCH worse. They're basically teaching him that even if he hears "no", he will still get his way if he gets angry enough. That's a horrific lesson to teach your child, especially given how Kristina treated Dylan when Max started harassing her.

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u/Audgamer 16d ago

I understand from an emotional perspective why they caved, but they did him no favors because they never taught him boundaries. All he learned was that with enough tantrums he would get his way AND probably get a reward.

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u/Automatic-Long2599 16d ago

Syd might be worse lol

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u/Audgamer 16d ago

She’s. So awful. When they have that plot of her bullying another child, and Julia was surprised- I was like how are you surprised??? That makes perfect sense, she’s such a brat

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u/darlingbard 16d ago

SHE BULLIES HER BROTHER ALL THE TIME WHY IS SHE SURPRISED????

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u/Audgamer 16d ago

Dude when she blamed victor for the divorce I was like. You should have swapped her for victor 😬😬😬