Dad Asks If He’s Wrong For Not Getting Wife A Mother’s Day Gift Because He Watched The Kids While She Went On A Girls Trip
If she's the mother of your children, she deserves a gift on her day, even from you.
goodluz/Shutterstock via Canva Pro Mother’s Day is undoubtedly hard for a lot of people, but one mom seems to have had a particularly unique problem on the day that was supposed to be celebrating her — an inconsiderate husband.
Perhaps it’s a little harsh, but you can decide if he deserves it. In fact, people on Reddit’s “r/AmItheA--hole” subreddit already did after he decided to make a post explaining what happened and he decided to do what he did and ultimately ruined his wife’s Mother’s Day.
He decided not to get his wife a gift for Mother’s Day because she went on a girl’s trip.
The 34-year-old man decided to make a post on the forum where people go to be judged by a jury of their internet peers and… got judged for it.
“I (34m) did not buy or get anything for my wife on Mother’s Day and let me explain why,” he began the post. “My wife and her friend planned a trip to the beach for four days which fell on Mother's Day.”
We're off to a relatively good start. His wife decided to do something for herself with a bunch of her girlfriends on a day meant for them and it all sounds like a well-deserved break for her. Until her husband let the ball drop at the final hurdle.
“So I thought to myself that since I’m watching the kids while she’s gone that would count as a gift since she wouldn’t be here to celebrate that day and would get home that night on Mother’s Day,” he explained.
If the trip itself had been a gift, the dad could have been off the hook but implying that watching your own children is a gift... well that's where he lost the support of Reddit users.
When his wife came home, she was upset he hadn’t gotten her a gift.
“She gets home and realizes that I didn’t do anything for her and later tells me that she is upset and [the] message was received loud and clear,” he writes. “I tried to explain my reasoning and thought process but she didn’t agree.”
Really? What a shocker. According to the National Retail Federation, approximately 84% of people planned to celebrate this Mother’s Day 2023, and the average person planned to spend $274.02 on a gift for the moms they were celebrating.
Apparently, this man was part of the 16% and likely brought that average to a much lower number with his $0 contribution. He, however, doesn’t think he did anything wrong, so he asked the people of Reddit if he was the a--hole, and they let him have it.
“Taking care of the kids should be part of your regular duties, not a present/gift,” read the top comment. “Parenting your own kids isn’t a gift,” read another.
“I rolled my eyes at the ‘watching the kids is a gift’ part,” read another. “Are you implying that you'd have made your wife take the kids with her had it not been Mother's Day? If yes, YTA. If no, then YTA for making yourself feel good about an empty gift.”
Are you noticing a recurring theme? Yeah, so is his wife. According to his comments on the post, he believes that because he would have had “100% responsibility” instead of what he claims is a normal 50/50 split, it would have been “different parenting.”
Thankfully, despite his very flawed logic, he was able to accept responsibility for the lack of communication and not getting her anything. Hopefully next year he'll watch the kids and throw in a bouquet of flowers or something.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.