A woman has posted about how she asked her boyfriend to kindly not bring his kids to Christmas dinner, and yes, it’s as awkward and cringe-worthy as you imagine.
Her justification? Well, she says that she actually has his “best interests” at heart.
But you decide for yourselves.
The woman titled her Reddit post, ‘AITA for suggesting that my boyfriend lets his kids spend Christmas with their mum?’
She explains how the couple has been dating for 11 months and while he has met her family before, this will be the first Christmas he actually spends with the family.
“I’m just trying to protect you”
She adds, “He has two kids (11 and seven) and so I suggested that since this is his first Christmas with my family, he might be feeling a little stressed and having the kids there too might not be the best idea.
“I suggested that he let them spend Christmas with their mum while he attends my family’s Christmas alone.”
Her partner told her she wanted to “hide” and “exclude” his kids, but the woman reiterated that she was trying to protect him from any “awkward” moments.
She explained that because her family don’t know him that well yet, it was best to just leave the kids out of the picture this year.
“He said he felt sad for the kids because of my suggestion and told me it’s his turn to have them this year and he will not spend it away from them. We began to argue, and I told him it was just a suggestion, but he told me to stop trying to ‘justify’ my actions,” she wrote.
“Let’s not pretend you care about his ‘comfort’”
The general vote was that the woman was clearly in the wrong and her behaviour would eventually “drive a wedge between her boyfriend and his kids.”
“This is how many relationships between fathers and their children start breaking down. Don’t be that catalyst,” one person warned.
“A parent and their children should always be considered a package deal,” another added.
A third echoed this sentiment writing, “Kids will always, and should always come first.”
Others speculated that the woman likely doesn’t have kids of her own, otherwise she never would have made this “suggestion” in the first place.
“You sound like someone who’s never had to put the feelings and comfort of a kid over yourself,” one group member replied.
“If you don’t want stepkids, don’t get involved with someone with kids,” another bluntly replied.
And finally, this woman made the recommendation that “if you think it may be a little awkward maybe you should consider waiting to do Christmas with your family and his kids when you’ve all known each other for a bit longer.”