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Family Is Boycotting Christmas After Woman Steals A Special Baby Moment From Stepdaughter
The holidays are coming, and so are all the conflicts that your family may have been avoiding throughout the year.
A new mother turned to Reddit to ask its users for advice after her father’s fiancée came to babysit her son, but ended up crossing important boundaries.
The lady took the boy to a mall to meet Santa for the first time in his life, even though the parents had explicitly told her they were looking forward to sharing that moment themselves.
RELATED:
Meeting Santa for the first time is one of our core memories
Image credits: MaplesImages / envato (not the actual photo)
But this woman said her dad’s fiancée deliberately took her son to the mall, making sure she would be the one to introduce him to Santa
Image credits: Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SantaVisitThrow
As many as 2 in 5 families fight over the holidays
Image credits: Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo)
According to a survey from last year, nearly 40% of families get into open disagreements throughout the holiday season. The research also revealed that a significant portion of these conflicts erupt during the holiday gatherings themselves.
Topics that cause the most trouble usually are:
- Politics (34%)
- Past grievances (32%)
- Relationships (25%)
- Finances (25%)
And it’s not like things get easily brushed off, either. The stakes can be very high, as nearly 20% of respondents indicated that holiday conflicts have prompted a family member to revisit or adjust their estate plans.
After posting the story, the mom joined the discussion in the comment section
Most people who read about what happened said it wasn’t her fault
A few, however, felt she overreacted
Later, the woman shared an update on how her father tried to make things right
Image credits: Nicole Michalou / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SantaVisitThrow
While moms and dads may look to their own parents for advice and help with raising their kids, disagreements are fairly common
Image credits: Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo)
A study from C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that almost half of parents report conflicts with grandparents over parenting choices.
The survey looked at more than 2,000 responses from parents with kids aged 18 and under. Among those whose children see their grandparents often or occasionally, 37 percent reported having minor disagreements over parenting styles, and 15 percent said their disagreements had a negative effect on the relationship between their children and their grandparents.
More specifically, the study found that 40 percent of parents felt grandparents were too soft on the kids, while 14 percent said they were too strict.
The most common areas of conflict were discipline (57 percent), meals and snacks (44 percent), TV and screen time (36 percent), manners (27 percent), health and safety (25 percent), treating some grandchildren differently than others (22 percent), bedtime (21 percent), and sharing photos or other information on social media (10 percent).
“Grandparents play a special role in the lives of many children and can be an important resource for parents through support, advice and babysitting. But they may have different ideas about the best way to raise the child and that can cause tension,” Sarah Clark, M.P.H., Mott Poll co-director and research scientist with the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center, or CHEAR, said in a press release.
“If grandparents contradict or interfere with parenting choices, it can have a serious strain on the relationship. Parents may feel that their parental authority is undermined when grandparents are too lenient in allowing children to do things that are against family rules, or when grandparents are too strict in forbidding children to do things that parents have okayed.”
The mother once again shared more information in the comments
And most people agreed that she handled it the right way
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What do you think ?
G A 2 days ago (edited)
What a lot of 1st world stress. The only one who doesn't come out as overly dramatic is the baby.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 2 days ago
Y'all, this has NOTHING to do with "omg stolen memories" or "omg OP is angy that Dad's fiancée took baby to see Santa before she could". What we SHOULD be looking at is the fact that OP had NO IDEA that her child was going to be anywhere but where she EXPECTED the child to be: IN HER HOME. Dad's fiancée didn't ask, or even inform - she just took an infant out of its home without permission (and yes, since Dad's fiancée isn't the child's parent/guardian, she DOES need permission.) What if something had happened to either the baby OR dad's fiancée? What if there was an accident? What if they got hit by a car? What if something happened at the mall and they were locked down there? OP would have NO IDEA where her child was. And - for all we know - OP's dad fell asleep without knowing that his fiancée was going to take the baby to the mall, so HE may not have even had any idea where the baby was, if something had happened. This was a massive breach of trust and risk to the child.
Kkg 2 days ago
I don't buy it. She mentioned multiple times that they live really close to a mall. 5 minute walk is what? 200m? She never mentioned that there is anything dangerous on the way to getting there. I understand that she is upset that she was not informed that they are leaving the house, but I bet that if Dad's fiancee said - "hey, I'm taking the little one to the mall, but we will keep away from the Santa thing", OP would be fine with it. She posted a whole long update about visiting Santa somewhere else and that she had "tears in her eyes looking at her son there". IMO she is upset ONLY (or mainly) about the memories. She explains it all too clearly. Not knowing where her child was is just mentioned as additional point on her side. She was even angry at the fiancee specifically for wanting to have her own special moments with the baby. I'm not saying that the fiancee did anything right. I just don't agree that OP's main issue is what she didn't know where the baby was.
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G A 2 days ago (edited)
What a lot of 1st world stress. The only one who doesn't come out as overly dramatic is the baby.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 2 days ago
Y'all, this has NOTHING to do with "omg stolen memories" or "omg OP is angy that Dad's fiancée took baby to see Santa before she could". What we SHOULD be looking at is the fact that OP had NO IDEA that her child was going to be anywhere but where she EXPECTED the child to be: IN HER HOME. Dad's fiancée didn't ask, or even inform - she just took an infant out of its home without permission (and yes, since Dad's fiancée isn't the child's parent/guardian, she DOES need permission.) What if something had happened to either the baby OR dad's fiancée? What if there was an accident? What if they got hit by a car? What if something happened at the mall and they were locked down there? OP would have NO IDEA where her child was. And - for all we know - OP's dad fell asleep without knowing that his fiancée was going to take the baby to the mall, so HE may not have even had any idea where the baby was, if something had happened. This was a massive breach of trust and risk to the child.
Kkg 2 days ago
I don't buy it. She mentioned multiple times that they live really close to a mall. 5 minute walk is what? 200m? She never mentioned that there is anything dangerous on the way to getting there. I understand that she is upset that she was not informed that they are leaving the house, but I bet that if Dad's fiancee said - "hey, I'm taking the little one to the mall, but we will keep away from the Santa thing", OP would be fine with it. She posted a whole long update about visiting Santa somewhere else and that she had "tears in her eyes looking at her son there". IMO she is upset ONLY (or mainly) about the memories. She explains it all too clearly. Not knowing where her child was is just mentioned as additional point on her side. She was even angry at the fiancee specifically for wanting to have her own special moments with the baby. I'm not saying that the fiancee did anything right. I just don't agree that OP's main issue is what she didn't know where the baby was.
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