Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

Wife Spends A Month With Grieving Friend, Throws A Fit After Being Reminded She Has Her Own Kids
Father securing daughter in car seat, highlighting mom prioritizes widowed friend over her own kids issue.

Wife Spends A Month With Grieving Friend, Throws A Fit After Being Reminded She Has Her Own Kids

Interview With Expert

42

ADVERTISEMENT

We can always rely on our friends during challenging times, and honestly, it’s a big relief to know that they will always be there for us. However, we wouldn’t expect them to just sacrifice everything for us. After all, they have their own lives to live.

Just look at this couple who are caught in a conflict, as the wife has been spending all her time with her widowed friend for over a month. The husband is sick of parenting their kids solo, so he dropped them off with her due to a work emergency. Here’s all the drama that followed…

More info: Reddit

RELATED:

    It’s always a relief to know that we have friends to fall back on during tough times

    Two women dressed in black mourning at a graveyard, one holding flowers, reflecting a widowed friend and family conflict.

    Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    The poster’s wife had been spending all her time with her recently widowed best friend, but he was annoyed, as it had been going on for over a month

    Mom prioritizes widowed friend over kids, causing husband to be livid as situation continues for over a month.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Text excerpt about a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her own kids, causing husband to feel stressed and heartless.

    Image credits:

    Woman in blue pajamas comforting her sad friend in pink pajamas on a couch, highlighting mom prioritizes widowed friend conflict.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    The poster kept reminding her that she was neglecting their own kids, as he had to solo-parent them during her constant absence

    Text about a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her own kids, causing husband to be livid for over a month.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Text on white background: We don’t have the money for a sitter, my parents live too far away, her parent aren’t allowed near the kids and my friends have their own lives/families.

    Image credits:

    Man helping child in car seat, illustrating family tensions as mom prioritizes widowed friend over kids.

    Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    ADVERTISEMENT

    When a work emergency came up, he asked her to come home, but she told him to manage things, so out of no choice, he dropped the kids off with her

    Text on white background reads So I packed up the kids and one my way to work dropped them off at Jessie's house My wife was pissed that I did that regarding mom prioritizing widowed friend over kids and husband upset.

    Text excerpt about a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her own kids, causing a conflict with her husband.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Text saying a man responds to his wife calling him heartless for telling her to parent their own kids.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits:

    However, this sparked a massive argument after he returned, and she even called him heartless when he told her to parent their own kids

    In today’s story, the original poster (OP) tells us about a conflict he had with his wife. The thing is, her best friend (Jessie) of over 25 years recently lost her husband. Well, it had been about a month, yet OP’s wife was constantly spending all her time with Jessie. The problem was that she was completely neglecting her own 6-year-old and 9-year-old daughters.

    The poor poster was stuck being a single parent for them, and it was stressing him out. Sadly, whenever he told his wife to cut back her time with Jessie, it always ended in an argument, with her calling him heartless. One day, however, things just escalated further when OP had a work emergency and he needed to leave, but couldn’t just keep the kids home alone.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    He called his wife and asked her to return, but she just brushed off his request and told him to figure it out. They didn’t have the money to hire a sitter; besides, getting one at the last minute was also difficult. As there was nobody else among their friends or family that he could leave them with, OP just took his kids and dropped them off with his wife and Jessie.

    All hell broke loose after he returned from work, and he had to face his furious partner. They got into a huge argument, and he reminded her that she has her own kids to parent. The truth didn’t go down well with her, as she called him a heartless man again. What a complicated situation! I really hope the kids were not in earshot of them.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Two young girls sitting in a car backseat holding colorful backpacks showing family and mom prioritizes widowed friend concept.

    Image credits: pvproductions / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    ADVERTISEMENT

    To get deeper insights into the situation, Bored Panda contacted Eden Lobo, a counselor and psychology professor. She claimed that the woman in the story has crossed from healthy support into emotionally over-involved caretaking of her friend. She also believes that this can really shake things up, not just for the husband, but also for the children.

    “They can feel confused, hurt, or even a little abandoned. They might start acting out, getting clingy, or stressing because they don’t understand why their mom is never around. Meanwhile, the partner can end up totally burned out, basically doing everything alone. That leads to stress, resentment, and feeling emotionally ignored,” she explained. 

    It stops feeling like a team and starts feeling like he’s a single parent with a partner who’s checked out, our expert added. She also stressed that everyone at home ends up overwhelmed, disconnected, and running on fumes, even if the wife’s intentions come from a good place. 

    Having said that, Prof. Lobo also noted, “People sometimes over-focus on a friend’s crisis because it makes them feel needed, guilty if they’re not helping, or it gives them an escape from stress at home. If they struggle with boundaries, they may not notice they’re giving too much and letting their own family’s needs slide.”

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Well, we can never know why she’s acting this way, but netizens found her over-involvement with Jessie’s life all too suspicious. Do you think they have a point? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

    Netizens found the wife’s behavior quite bizarre, considering that it had been over a month, and they called out her negligence toward her own kids

    Reddit conversation about a mom prioritizing widowed friend over her kids, causing husband to be upset for over a month.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Screenshot of an online discussion where a husband is upset as his wife prioritizes widowed friend over her kids for over a month.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Screenshot of a forum discussion about a mom prioritizing widowed friend over her kids, causing husband to be upset.

    Reddit discussion on mom prioritizing widowed friend over kids, husband upset as situation lasts over a month.

    Reddit comments discussing a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her kids, causing husband to become livid.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Text post discussing a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her kids, causing tension with her husband.

    Comment discussing mom prioritizing widowed friend over her own kids, causing husband to be upset for over a month.

    Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her kids, causing husband’s frustration.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Text post discussing a mom prioritizing widowed friend over her kids, causing husband to be upset for over a month.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her kids, causing husband conflict.

    Comment discussing a mom prioritizing widowed friend over her kids, raising husband’s concerns after a month-long issue.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her kids, causing marital conflict.

    Reddit comment criticizing mom prioritizing widowed friend over kids and husband, causing family conflict.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Screenshot of an online comment discussing a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her kids, causing conflict with her husband.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Comment discussing a mom prioritizing her widowed friend over her own kids, causing husband to be upset.

    Poll Question

    Total votes ·

    Thanks! Check out the results:

    Total votes ·
    Share on Facebook

    Explore more of these tags

    Rutuja Dumbre

    Rutuja Dumbre

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    Hey, am Rutuja! A storyteller at heart and a writer at Bored Panda. I have a strange love for words, and I mostly survive on coffee which is the driving force behind my writing. I enjoy working on articles that purely entertain our readers. When am not writing or trekking, you can find me staying up late and watching all the matches of Football Club Barcelona!

    Read less »
    Rutuja Dumbre

    Rutuja Dumbre

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Hey, am Rutuja! A storyteller at heart and a writer at Bored Panda. I have a strange love for words, and I mostly survive on coffee which is the driving force behind my writing. I enjoy working on articles that purely entertain our readers. When am not writing or trekking, you can find me staying up late and watching all the matches of Football Club Barcelona!

    What do you think ?
    Kate Johnson
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sorry, no. This might be reasonable for a week, but not a month. I'd tell her that neglecting her children isn't an option unless she wants to join her friend in being "single",

    Ben Aziza
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You know it is pretty f*****g "heartless" to abandon your kids too, but what the F do I know?

    Sarah Kathrin Matsoukis
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Is it really about helping or does she want time away from her kids

    🇺🇦 🇵🇸 TribbleThinking
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You're right , probably a bit of both. Because in reality, if the friend doesn't want to be alone, she could come over to your house.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
    Kate Johnson
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sorry, no. This might be reasonable for a week, but not a month. I'd tell her that neglecting her children isn't an option unless she wants to join her friend in being "single",

    Ben Aziza
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You know it is pretty f*****g "heartless" to abandon your kids too, but what the F do I know?

    Sarah Kathrin Matsoukis
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Is it really about helping or does she want time away from her kids

    🇺🇦 🇵🇸 TribbleThinking
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You're right , probably a bit of both. Because in reality, if the friend doesn't want to be alone, she could come over to your house.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
    You May Like
    Related on Bored Panda
    Popular on Bored Panda
    Trending on Bored Panda
    Also on Bored Panda
    ADVERTISEMENT