Mom Finds Herself At Odds With Her New HB After Her Teenage Daughter "Ruined" Xmas By Telling Her Step-Siblings Santa Isn't Real
For those with young children, Christmas comes with an extra boost of magic and holiday cheer. Between Santa, his reindeer, Christmas lights, and yard inflatables, Elf on the Shelf (for those who don’t think there’s enough to do during the month of December), there’s a ton of excitement.
Many parents do their best to keep the magic and excitement going for as long as possible. Hiding presents, eating cookies left out for Santa, staying up all hours on Christmas Eve to stuff stockings and fill out the presents underneath the Christmas tree.
It doesn’t hurt that the Santa myth also doubles as a month-long (or longer) threat for children to be on their best behavior. Whatever the reason, parents dread the day that their children eventually find out that Santa was made up all along.
Kids don’t typically figure it out between the ages of 7-10, but sometimes the secret is ruined before then. Either by accident or by a Grinch who purposefully decides to spoil the fun.
What happens if the Grinch is your new stepdaughter and tells your 4 and 6-year-old kids the truth behind Santa? One Redditor turned to AITA for this very scenario: her 17-year-old daughter intentionally spilled the cookies to her new step-siblings in a rebellious act of revenge.
OP’s husband completely blew up when he learned the news, and his proposed punishment may end up fracturing the newly blended family. Keep scrolling to read the full story and see how Redditors reacted.
OP shares that she's been married to her new husband for a little over a year, and they both have kids from previous relationships
grinchyteenaitaOP's admits her daughter, Ann has been going through a rebellious phase, and has been grounded recently
grinchyteenaitaWhile OP was out recently, her MIL was stuck with a flat tire and her husband forced Ann into babysitting while he went to go help
grinchyteenaitaHusband was home not too long after, only to find his young children in tears because Ann told them Santa wasn't real
grinchyteenaitaOP's husband was completely livid, and wants to not only return Ann's presents, but send her away to her dad's for the holiday
grinchyteenaitaOP got Ann's side of things, and she was understandably frustrated with being forced to babysit when she's already being punished for other misdeeds
grinchyteenaitaOP tried to talk more with her husband about the issue and he refused to budge on his position
grinchyteenaita
OP thinks that if her husband had just brought the kids along, none of this would have happened
grinchyteenaita
There's a lot to unpack here
giphy
Husband isn't responsible for Ann ruining the Santa secret
StAlvis
OP needs to consider her new family as a whole, not just Ann
ifimhereimrealbored
Everyone sucks in this situation
No_Service2135
Parents definitely use punishment as leverage
ifimhereimrealbored
Ann doesn't owe her step-dad babysitting because he married her mom, but that's definitely part of being a family unit
Selvedge630
Is a flat tire an emergency?
Selvedge630
Ann is definitely an A-hole, but clearly not the only one
Selvedge630
But the discourse is spicy
onetwobe
Step-dad's attitude overall is terrible
StrangledInMoonlight
Could Ann be rebelling because of how step-dad has been treating her?
StrangledInMoonlight
OP has raised an entitled brat
Caspian4136
Only the young kids are free from the A-hole judgment
DumbestManEver
The kids were just cannon fodder
RiverSong_777
Step-dad doesn't seem to have much respect for their "blended family"
lizfour
Having small children makes *everything* a million times more difficult
HoneySignificant105
It seems like OPs husband doesn't like her daughter
evendead
OP needs to find some sort of compromise with her husband and not try to ignore her daughters fault
shtoopee
There may be more to this story than we're getting
pinkie18
There's no getting that Christmas magic back
TeaLoverGal
Family counseling sounds like a great idea
icedtea4all
They make a good point - step-dad *knew* the daughter wasn't responsible enough to watch the younger two
PermaThrwAway
There needs to be more sympathy from everyone
Zazzog
This conflict is definitely one heck of a doozy. I can only hope they were able to resolve it without excluding the 17-year-old from their family Christmas, but OP’s account has since been suspended, so we may never know.
What would you have done in this situation? Would you go scorched earth like OP’s husband and completely ban the teen from Christmas, or would you try to find a middle ground?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
