In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/onetroubledmom (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said she was stuck between a rock and a hard place when one of her daughters went into labor hours before her other daughter’s wedding and detailed the heated aftermath of her decision to be there for both pivotal moments.

Titled, “[Am I the a**hole] for missing my grandchild’s birth to attend my other daughter’s wedding?” the post has received more than 14,000 upvotes and 3,500 comments since September 30.

“I am the mother to two wonderful daughters,” OP began. “Sophia, 32 and Nichole, 26.”

Continuing to explain that she has a positive relationship with both of her children, the original poster said she was set to walk Nichole down the aisle at her wedding, and then travel to Sophia to help take care of her in the weeks after giving birth.

The original poster also said that Sophia went into labor three weeks early and chronicled her superheroic effort to support both daughters, despite the familial chaos it caused.

“The timing panned out that [Sophia] would be due after Nichole’s wedding,” OP wrote. “Instead, Sophia went into labor…the afternoon before.

“I missed Sophia’s first call because I was already almost 2.5 hours away…[but] she wanted me to get there as soon as possible,” OP continued. “Nichole was able to move her ceremony…and make it a 25ish minute ceremony and…I thought this was a good compromise.

“I got to the hospital early the next afternoon and missed the birth by a couple of hours,” OP added. “Sophia was so mad she didn’t want me to come in…I’ve talked to my son-in-law and he said they’re both mad that I chose to ditch Sophia when she needed me most for a party.”

Although mothers of grown-up children may face fewer responsibilities than they did decades prior, there are still times when adults simply need their mom.

Childbirth and weddings are two of those times.

However, while mothers of brides and grooms, and mothers of expecting mothers usually play pivotal roles and are capable of providing unmatched comfort, both events happening simultaneously and hours apart pose an obvious challenge.

This is especially true when even a semblance of sibling rivalry exists.

Despite the notion that sibling rivalries diminish over time, many adult children have trouble letting go of the competition for parental attention that dominated their formative years.

“A lot of it goes back to early parenting,” parenting expert and Nobody’s Baby Now author Dr. Susan Newman told Newsweek. “All kids are different, all kids have different needs, and one child may think the parent is favoring the other child, when in fact they really aren’t.

“That kind of rivalry goes way back,” Newman added. “Personality differences weigh in here, so it may be the daughter’s perception in this case…that the mother is favoring the bride over the birth mother.”

In her viral Reddit post, the original poster acknowledged that there had been rough patches in her relationship with her daughter Sophia but remained adamant that she tried her best to be present for both of her children on the most important days of their lives.

Throughout the viral post’s comment section, Redditors commended her effort and assured that there was nothing more she could have done, no matter how upset her eldest daughter is.

“[Not the a**hole] and I’m really surprised by the responses here,” Redditor u/newbeginingshey wrote in the post’s top comment, which has received nearly 41,000 upvotes. “A wedding is not just a party. It’s a once in a lifetime event.

“And it’s not like you planned to attend one over the other,” they continued. “The baby came 3 weeks early…how anyone could assume you intended to prioritize one kid over another…just baffles my mind.”

“The sister had her husband with her,” Redditor u/dudleymunta added, receiving more than 15,000 upvotes. “She wasn’t alone or unsupported.”

Redditor u/KarmaWillGetYa, whose comment has received nearly 6,000 upvotes, offered a similar response.

“It wasn’t a ‘party.’ It was her sister’s WEDDING where YOU, her mother, were walking her down the aisle,” they wrote. “It sounds like she was wanting your complete attention to the detriment and disappointment of her sister.”

“You are [not the a**hole],” Redditor u/norismomma added, receiving more than 4,000 upvotes. “This was an impossible situation and you did your best.”

“Sophia is pretty selfish honestly,” Redditor u/Clichessea_18 chimed in. “They were both once in a lifetime experiences.”

Newsweek reached out to u/onetroubledmom for comment.

Update 10/5/22, 4:15 p.m.: this article has been updated to include comment from Susan Newman, Ph.D.