Parenting is a tough job—but you know what? So is being a kid! While parents bear the burden of trying to do everything right, the kids feel it when the parents go about something in the wrong way.

In a recent Reddit post, kids sound off about the most common thing their parents did that they didn’t realize was hurting them. Warning: The answers may tug at your heart strings!

1. Nit Picking

   “Constantly correcting and moaning about minor details makes you feel like you’re incapable.”

2. Belief That Crying is Bad

   “‘Stop crying or I will give you something to cry about,’ End result – I was physically unable to cry at my grandmothers funeral. Thanks, Dad.”

3. Never Apologizing

   “It’s something they don’t do: They NEVER apologize. Not once, not ever. And if you bring up something they did wrong, they immediately change the subject.”

4. Criticizing the Things They Don’t Understand

   “This is so hurtful, makes you feel all alone in the world, especially if the thing you like is unusual or has a stigma. At one point you start feeling that you can’t share interests with anyone, which is a terribly slippery slope.”

5. Staying Together for the Sake of the Kids

   “Both my sister and I would be much happier if they just bit the bullet and divorced. I’d much rather live in two happy houses than in one unhappy one.”

6. Exaggerating Things

   “When I was a teen and I would come down stairs and they would say something like “LOOK WHO IS FINALLY OUT OF THEIR ROOM” thanks for bringing the attention to it, going back to my room now.”

7. Prying

   “Not leaving me alone when I ask.”

8. Making Them Feel Stupid

   “I got held back a year and my mom pins that for me. Every time I want to go out with friends or I do want to have fun, she says I’m “A special case” and that I’m different from the rest of the class. She makes me feel (no offense to anyone) retarded. Everyday I used to feel like the outcast of the class, the thought that I don’t fit in with the class. But I got over it eventually, I learned how to make my friends into my sort of family, and they really make my life a whole lot better now.”

9. Screaming

   “Screaming at me, like making rude remarks when “I do something wrong”, and doing that instead of trying to help me to do better.”

10. Critiquing Appearances

    “Always critiquing my appearance which makes me have sh*t self confidence. I was in a major atv accident a few months ago and I have some gnarly scars. She never fails to tell me how “disgusting” my scars are. I work at her office and she will make me change clothes like 3-4 times before she “approves” how I look. And before hand I look fine. I like to wear colored eyeliner because I think it looks cool and she’ll look at it and say “god you’re so weird” or call me a freak.”

11. Leaning Too Much on Them for Emotional Support

    “This essentially robs the kid of their childhood and forces them to be a parent to their own parent. I assure you, it’s not fun. The emotional damage is severe and long lasting.”

12. Making a Big Deal Out of Simple Questions

    “Putting us down for asking a simple question which can easily be answered. The amount of times that this has happened is too much and i think that most kids can relate.”

13. “Playful” Observations

    “Not a kid anymore, but my mother always does these little playful observations like “what’s up with your shirt?/ look at those glasses/ what’s up with your hat?”. That sh*t hurts, yo.”

Have your parents ever made a backhand comment like these?