Dinner is served. Wash your hands, pass the rolls — and, BTW, don’t talk to anyone! This is a time for eating after all, so no socializing is allowed … at least, according to this mom on Reddit. She complained that her husband had the audacity to want to (*gasp!*) make conversation with their 10- and 13-year-old kids over mealtime, so she did the only logical thing: banish him from family dinners. Uh, what?
In the always-entertaining “Am I The A—hole?” subreddit, a mom went online to complain about her husband, and ended up being roasted like a Thanksgiving turkey.
First, a little backstory. “My husband (37) suffers from a medical condition which got more and more severe the past 4 months,” she wrote. “He is now following a diet and has a strict eating schedule as part of his health management.”
OK, that makes things a little more difficult. He has to have certain foods that the rest of the family doesn’t. But does this mean he shouldn’t be allowed to even sit at the table with his wife and two kids?
“The kids and I eat regular food that I cook everyday,” she continued. “The problem is that whenever we sit to eat, my husband would try to join us.” Sooo…? Isn’t it strange she doesn’t want her husband to sit with them?
“I don’t mean join us in eating though he tried it once but swore he wouldn’t touch any of the food again,” she clarified. “But it was hard to take his word for it. Now he’s asking to be allowed to sit with me and the kids while we eat just so he doesn’t miss out on this bonding time together as a family.”
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Poor guy! He just wants to eat with his family, but his wife is too worried about him sneaking some food, so she doesn’t even want him at the table. It’s heartbreaking. But that’s not the only reason she doesn’t want him there.
“I refused because he might try to get his hands on the food, and also it would be awkward for him to sit by and watch us eat,” she continued. “He argued that he wants to feel included at the table, and be able to chat with the kids and bond with them.”
Um, the man is actually making a valid point. He’s literally begging to be included and she’s pushing him away!
She went on, “I told him he can do that literally anytime anywhere just not the dining table. The kids and I should be able to eat quietly and peacefully without having to get busy talking. “
Stop and read that again. She doesn’t want “to get busy talking”? At dinnertime?! That’s one of the prime times to ask each other about your days and laugh over funny things and catch up? It’s so unbelievably strange that this controlling mom wants everyone to just sit in silence and scarf down their food.
“He got mad saying I don’t get it and that by not allowing him to join us I’m trying to control what places he can be at and how he bonds with the kids,” she continued. “I refused to discuss it but he threw a hissy fit calling me unreasonable and claiming that I was isolating him because of his condition.”
Maybe he claimed that BECAUSE YOU ARE! Controlling to the max, geez.
Reddit was utterly baffled by the whole situation. “Wtf did I just read?” one person wrote, adding, “Ummmm? Do you guys not care to share about your days? Talk about your hopes and dreams? Your favourite tv shows? Who doesn’t talk at the dinner table? You guys just sit in silence? Do you even like eachother?”
The questions are endless because this story is so wild. Why wouldn’t you want to spend meaningful, uninterrupted time together? It’s so precious and she’s wishing it away.
“Yeah I read that and was confused too,” another wrote. “Also can OP not make a single meal that the husband and kids can all enjoy together? Can they not all get involved in cooking and use that as a bonding time too? I’m just not understanding why this has to be such a black and white issue.”
Another said, “OP disguising her husband’s health issues as a way to isolate him from having time with his kids is wild. Controlling diet to help his condition is one thing but you can’t tell him off because you want silence.”
“How dare my husband want to spend time with our family at the dinner table, making us feel obligated to break our long and uncomfortable silences with … ugh … conversation,” someone else joked. Seriously, how could OP type out this entire post and not realize how ridiculous she was being?
“She sounds like some kind of robot,” someone else commented. “This 100% abusive behaviour. Swap the gender roles and it immediately becomes clear his is some serious controlling behaviour.”
“Let, me get this straight — you have subjected your husband, for whom eating has now become a stressful, medically fraught experience, to even further isolation and stress around mealtimes by banning him from the dining room table?” somebody wrote. “And what’s this nonsense about having to talk sound the table, that is literally the entire point of eating together. Yes, YTA, and I’m a little worried about your husband’s ability to advocate for himself.”
Someone responded to that comment, saying, “No sh*t. Why does he even have to ask and why does OP get to decide? YTA.”
“YTA. Who annointed you queen of the dinner table? Your husband is not one of your children and should not be obeying your commands,” someone else said. So true. It’s his house and his family, too. It goes without saying, but he should be able to sit at his own damn dinner table without being made to feel bad about it! This mom needs to rethink her priorities — and stop being such a jerk.
Before you go, check out these wild stories about Reddit’s most horrific mother-in-laws.
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