As a parent, one of the things you look forward to the most about Christmas is watching your kids open the gifts you so carefully picked out.
Unfortunately, one mom didn’t get this opportunity because of some poor planning on the part of her husband.
A husband and father let his kids open their presents on Christmas morning without his wife being present.
An anonymous Reddit user shared just how angry she was with her husband, who is “usually a great husband and father,” in a post detailing her Christmas morning heartbreak.
“I woke up this morning around 8:30 when I heard the kids running around,” she said. “I knew they would be eager to open their Christmas presents, so I got up immediately.”
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The woman explained that sleep is pretty hard to come by for her, so she is used to sleeping later than the rest of her family.
“I have a lot of trouble sleeping for various reasons so my husband lets me sleep in every morning and watches the kids until I wake up naturally or I have to get up to help get the kids ready for the day,” she said.
She continued, “So I come into the living room and there is wrapping paper everywhere. All the presents are already unwrapped and the kids (five and seven) are playing with them.”
The woman couldn’t hide her dismay over missing such an important moment. “I immediately started crying and walked back into the bedroom where my sadness also turned into anger, and I started screaming like crazy,” she shared. “I am so, so mad.”
“I spent so much time thinking about what to get the kids, ordering it or driving around to find it in the store, wrapping them and everything, and I feel like I was completely deprived of the joy of seeing their faces when they open their presents, which is one of the best parts of Christmas,” she explained.
Her husband tried his best to make up for his blunder. “My husband said he videotaped it,” she stated. “I screamed at him why he either couldn’t make the kids wait, or he could’ve just come and woken me up.”
Now, this mom is worried she reacted too harshly to her husband’s mistake.
“I’m really hurt right now, and I don’t even know how to get over it,” she confessed. “I don’t feel like doing anything Christmasy today.”
After a lot of questions regarding the matter, the woman clarified in an update that she did not get upset in front of her children.
“People seem to think that I cried and screamed and cursed in front of my children,” she said. “I did not! I intentionally went into the bedroom to have a good cry. I wasn’t expecting to get so angry that I was screaming. My husband heard me and came into the room, so yes, I did scream at him.”
She also said that she and her husband discussed what happened in detail later in the day, and he understood where she was coming from and apologized.
“We already have a plan for next year,” she reassured.
While this woman’s anger was understandable, it may have gotten a bit out of hand.
According to a poll from Statistamost American parents (22%) planned on spending “more than $50 to $100” on each of their children during the Christmas season.
Nicole Michalou | Pexels
Not only is that a lot of money spent, but it also adds up to plenty of time and energy devoted to making Christmas as perfect for kids as possible. It’s understandable that having those perfect plans ripped away from you would be upsetting.
However, not losing your temper is also important, and it’s true that this woman’s reaction may have been a bit too harsh.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
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