I (20f) have been visiting family for the past month while I get my health situated, I moved out of their house about two years ago. I’d say I have a pretty good relationship with my parents, there have been some “speed bumps” though. For a long while my dad suffered a lot of health complications, he went paralyzed from the waist down, suffered gall bladder failure, etc. this was really hard on my mom and I. The issue started however once he had started his recovery journey. With years of physical therapy he was able to walk again though still has little feeling on his legs and has recovered well however as one would expect he’s not the same and as with most older people is also very old fashioned. Since I’ve returned home my dad has been an issue. It started with simple chats when he started insisting there’s spy cameras in labubu’s and global warming isn’t real and such. Whenever I’d tell him to stop he’d reply with “believe what you want” while refusing to hear me out if I were to disagree. Suffice to say this became incredibly irritating incredibly fast and lead to quite a few arguments back and fourth between us. Meanwhile my mom has told me to just take it and that I can’t convince him and he’s “old fashioned” and he “doesn’t understand”, however any attempts i had made at talking about ANYTHING else was always forcibly switched back to conspiracy theories. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place as talking with him always turns into rants, so the only other option is just to NOT talk to him however i do love my dad and when I HAVE avoided him it’s been apparent that it’s deeply hurt his feelings. I’ve explained I don’t like talking about said topics however he always argues over it and refuses to stop. He also has a tendency to loudly announce himself in public and talk to random (clearly uncomfortable) strangers until either my mom or myself drags him away which is beyond embarrassing for both of us but is a REGULAR occurrence. On one hand I adore my dad and love him with all my heart, he was always my idol growing up, however it’s becoming increasingly hard to handle his conspiracy rants and close-mindedness as well as the public humiliation that my mom and I regularly have to face when he stops strangers or in some bad cases even yells at strangers when irritated. It breaks my heart to avoid my dad because I know how much it hurts him seeing his daughter grow distant and ignore/avoid him. Ive quietly let my mom know that I won’t be joining them out in public for these reasons to which she’s said she understands however I still feel like a total jerk. AITAH?? (note, I still talk to my dad regularly I’ve just been avoiding going out in public with him and leaving when certain topics are brought up. We still do talk just not as much.)