Woman called a 'bad parent' by her own folks is defended on Reddit for keeping her family together

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A woman on Reddit received a deluge of support after her own mother and father called her a bad parent for not wanting to send her children to them during Christmas. 

"AITA for telling my parents that my kids won’t attend Christmas if everyone can’t attend?" asked Reddit user "Miserable_Horror_980" in a Tuesday, Dec. 5, post on the "Am I the A--hole" subreddit. 

In the post, the woman said her husband suffered a spinal cord injury when he was in high school, almost 18 years ago, and uses a wheelchair. 

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"We have four children — his 15-year-old son from a previous relationship, an 8-year-old daughter, a 5-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter," she wrote. 

She also said her parents "usually host a big Christmas every year with all of the kids and their families," either at their home or at a vacation destination. While the previous years' experiences had always been accessible for Miserable_Horror_980's husband, this year was different, she said.

woman called a bad parent by her own folks is defended on reddit for keeping her family together

The Reddit user (not pictured) wrote that her family almost always celebrates Christmas together, either at her parents' house or at a vacation location of their choosing.  (iStock)

"This year they've chosen to have it at a mountain/ski resort that is largely inaccessible and would have a lot of activities that would leave my husband out," she said. 

"So we told them we are going to do our own thing for Christmas this year," wrote the woman.

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While she thought this would be "no biggie," her parents disagreed — and asked the woman and her husband to "send the kids and you can do your own thing." 

"We responded that we wouldn’t be sending our kids and that if we couldn’t all attend, nobody would attend," she said — which prompted her parents to accuse her of "withholding the kids from something that brings them joy" and of "being bad parents." 

woman called a bad parent by her own folks is defended on reddit for keeping her family together

The woman was called a "bad parent" for not wanting to send her kids away to their grandparents for Christmas — and Reddit users largely decided she was correct in doing what she did.  (iStock)

Fox News Digital reached out to the original poster for an update, and to a family psychologist for further advice. 

On the AITA subreddit, people can reply to posts and indicate the poster is "NTA" ("Not the A--hole"), "YTA" ("You're the A--hole"), "NAH" ("No A--holes Here") or "ESH" ("Everyone Sucks Here").

Users can "upvote" responses they think are helpful and "downvote" ones that are not.

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In the more than 1,100 responses to Miserable_Horror_980's post, nearly all commenters sided with her — especially after she revealed that the lodging her parents booked did not have any bedrooms on the first floor and did not have elevators.

"They've excluded your husband from Christmas and their solution is, 'Oh that's OK, you can just split up your entire family for the holidays,'" said Reddit user "Loow00" in the top-upvoted comment. 

"NTA, this is amazing. Of course NTA," said the same commenter.

woman called a bad parent by her own folks is defended on reddit for keeping her family together

Reddit users assured the original poster that her parents were over the line for suggesting she split up her family for Christmas. (Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Loow00 also asked if Miserable_Horror_980's parents had a history of this sort of behavior — to which she replied that they did not. 

"I don’t think they do! They’ve always typically been considerate of his needs, and have always seemed to like him, so it took us aback," she wrote.

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"You only get to spend a number of Christmases with your kids before they grow up and have their own families. After that they will put their families first — it’s the natural order of things," said Reddit user "AphasiaRiver" in another top-upvoted comment. 

"Your family didn’t consider your husband’s accessibility needs. You don’t have to give up your kids for the holiday."

"Enjoy this Christmas with your husband and kids," said the same commenter.

"Your family didn’t consider your husband’s accessibility needs. You don’t have to give up your kids for the holiday. You can offer to visit with the kids another time," AphasiaRiver also wrote, adding, "Pretty obnoxious of your parents to assume they have rights to your kids."

Another top comment was more succinct in its rating.

"They planned something your husband absolutely cannot attend and then expect you to send your children? No. That's ridiculous," said user "CorgiHuntress."

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.

Christine Rousselle is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

Authored by Christine Rousselle via FoxNews December 6th 2023