Christmas is for spending time with your loved ones. But, it’s also a great time to weed out people who might not love you at all. The people of r/AITA had a field day responding to this dad who asked the internet if he was a jerk for deciding to spend Christmas with his parents instead of his wife and young children.
This was the parents’ request. Perhaps last year’s game of Quiplash was just too much for the in-laws. Then again, it is 2020, so maybe this was specifically about the pandemic? I doubt it. It wasn’t mentioned once.
There are always reasons to skip Christmas with your family. They’re usually weather-related. Or advice from medical professionals. “My parents said ‘no'” is apparently no excuse. Why would they make that request? Some people just want to watch the world burn.
A man asked the Internet if he was wrong for wanting to spend Christmas with his parents instead of his wife and kids, and the Internet responded with a resounding “YTA”:
This guy had one simple question:
“So, I (29m) and my wife (28f) have been together for 10 years, we have three children (3m, 4f, 6f). Recently my mother called me saying that she and my father are going to have a Christmas dinner, but only for their immediate family. So only me, my siblings, and my parents are attending, no spouses or children. I am most likely going to go(all my siblings agreed to go) since it has been a while since I spend some time just hanging out with my immediate family.” –Holiday_Range8135
Even before posting this question for the world to see, the dad received negative feedback from others:
“I told my wife about it and how I plan on going, she seemed sad but agreed I could go. Today I was on the phone with my BIL(we’re good friends) and I told him I will be going to my parent’s house for Christmas alone. My BIL called me selfish and said, “that is why my sister was so sad this weekend”, I told him where I go for Christmas isn’t his business.” –Holiday_Range8135
He made sure to let everyone know it was tearing him up:
“I know that my wife might be a little lonely having Christmas alone, but I had the holidays with her last year and there will always be another Christmas next year. [Am I the a-hole]?” –Holiday_Range8135
Guys, he saw his wife ALL YEAR. Why does he have to also see her on this holiday?
The father made sure to let everyone know he had come up with a compromise:
“…to give more context I leave in the morning on the 24th and come back the morning of the 26th. I was think of having a Christmas dinner with my wife and kids when I come back.” –Holiday_Range8135
Well, he seems like a completely reasonable person who’s making a big mistake. I think in his heart, he knows, but he asked the Internet, and they responded. Is he the a**hole? Let’s find out.
The top response (and many agreed) was this:
“Wow, YTA, so are your parents. ‘Sorry kids, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, and your Aunts and Uncles don’t want to spend Xmas with you.’ The whole lot of you are just awful.” –MediumSpaces
Others wanted to know “if your offspring aren’t your immediate family, then who is?”:
“how are your wife and kids not your “immediate family”?” –QueenYamma
And still, others took had more extreme takes:
“If you were my husband the locks would be changed by the 26th and you could have the rest of your meals at mummy and daddy’s house too.” –alokinseiv
I think the verdict is that this person is doing a poor job planning a nice family Christmas. It’s been deleted from Reddit. I’m guessing because the debate got too heated.
The dad offered a resolution to the entire catastrophe based on the advice of strangers on Reddit:
“I am going to give my wife and BIL the apology, tell my parents I can’t go to the gathering, tell my wife I will try to get my parents to treat her better, and call my parents to tell them that I don’t like the way they treat my wife and children, wish me luck it will be a long night. I will update in the morning, so you guys can know how everyone reacted.” –Holiday_Range8135
If you’re alone this Christmas or around your extended family, remember it could always be worse. Give thanks. Happy Holidays!