Christmas morning ruined for mother of 2 when she finds out her children opened their gifts without her, she accuses husband of ruining Christmas from negligence

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Dec 30, 2024 12:00 PM EST

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. Christmas morning is a special time for the whole family. For parents who have spent the past month or two sneakily buying the best gifts for their kids, hiding them, and feigning to be a Germanic folktale old man with a beard, it's a wonderful experience to watch your kid's excitement as they open their new presents. Every parent loves to watch their children's faces light up with enthusiasm and joy at unwrapping their new toys, Barbies, devices and much more. For many parents, this is the real joy of the holiday. When this crucial moment is taken for granted, it can lead to a holiday crisis. 

In this Reddit thread, the original poster (OP) is a mother who was in that exact situation. She woke up Christmas morning to find that her children had already opened their gifts without her. To be fair, it's obviously not the children's fault, but the fault of the father for allowing them to behave like this. He should have been thinking about his wife.

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  • 01
    So I come into the living room and there is wrapping paper everywhere. All the presents are already unwrapped and the kids (5 and 7) are playing with them. I immediately started crying and walked back into the bedroom where my sadness also turned into anger, and I started screaming like crazy. I am so, so mad. I spent so
    via Canva
  • 02
    r/AITAH 4 days ago germangirrl Kids opened their presents without me
    via u/germangirrl

    If this ever happened at my home growing up…we would never hear the end of it. It's incredible disrespectful to a parent to disregard their being present for gift time. The holiday is specifically a family holiday, and it's customary to have "Santa" around for gift opening. There's no excuse on the husband's part for letting this happen, and she has every right to be as upset as she is. 

  • 03
    My husband is usually a great husband and father, but I am so effing ped right now. I don't think I've ever been this mad. I woke up this morning around 8:30 when I heard the kids running around. I knew they would be eager to open their Christmas presents so I got up immediately.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 04
    I have a lot of trouble sleeping for various reasons so my husband lets me sleep in every morning and watches the kids until I wake up naturally or I have to get up to help get the kids ready for the day. He's alone with them for half an hour to an hour. He knows what time to wake me up if I oversleep.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 05
    So I come into the living room and there is wrapping paper everywhere. All the presents are already unwrapped and the kids (5 and 7) are playing with them. I immediately started crying and walked back into the bedroom where my sadness also turned into anger, and I started screaming like crazy. I am so, so mad. I spent so
    via u/germangirrl
  • 06
    much time, thinking about what to get the kids, ordering it or driving around to find it in the stores, wrapping them and everything, and I feel like I was completely deprived of the joy of seeing their faces when they open their presents, which is one the best parts of Christmas. My husband
    via u/germangirrl
  • 07
    said he videotaped it. I screamed at him why he either couldn't make the kids wait, or he could've just come and woken me up. He just said "I never wake you up in the morning" I said "it's Christmas morning. You didn't think I wanted to watch the kids unwrap the presents" and I called him an a hole.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 08
    He just said sorry, he didn't say I overreacted. I'm really hurt right now and I don't even know how to get over it. I don't feel like doing anything Christmasy today. I'm so disappointed in everybody. I guess this was more of a rant to get this off my chest, but you can certainly tell me if I was the ahle or not. Also, if you have
    via u/germangirrl

    Just a measly, "I'm sorry"? He can do better than that. 

  • 09
    any suggestions on how to mediate my hurt feelings, that would be really great. I hope you all have a merry Christmas.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 10
    Edit: people seem to think that I cried and screamed and cursed in front of my children. I did not! I intentionally went into the bedroom to have a good cry. I wasn't expecting to get so angry that I was screaming. My husband heard me and came into the room, so yes, I did scream at him and I did call him an a_h_le. I
    via u/germangirrl
  • 11
    wish I had the same self control as so many in the comments that can control their strong emotions.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 12
    Update, I Guess: Men, people on here are extreme. I should divorce my husband, my husband should divorce me, I'm being abive, everybody, in my family needs therapy, etc. So here is the very anti-climactic update. My husband and I were cordial with each other throughout the day. I spent most of my time hanging out with the
    via u/germangirrl
  • 13
    kids, admiring their toys, playing games with them. My husband helped them with Lego assembly. We had snacks, I made dinner, we drove around looking at Christmas lights. I talked to the kids about opening the presents, and my older one apologized for not waiting for me, but he was just so excited and had to open them
    via u/germangirrl
  • 14
    right away. I told him it was OK, but maybe next time we do it differently. When the kids went to bed, I talked to my husband about what happened and he apologized saying that he just didn't think about it. He was busy with a project when the kids came downstairs around 8 AM. He
    via u/germangirrl
  • 15
    wasn't quite done yet and they really wanted to open the presents. He wanted to make sure everything was safely put away and he couldn't hold them off any longer, but really wanted to let me sleep. That's why he videotaped it so I could watch it later. I asked him how he would feel if the roles
    via u/germangirrl
  • 16
    were reversed and he said "yeah that would s...k. I know I messed up. Dad brain." Obviously, I forgave him. We have a strong marriage and can figure stuff out together. That doesn't mean that we don't have feelings or need to suppress them. I apologized for yelling and calling him an a hole.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 17
    He says he understands why I reacted the way I did. I asked him if the kids heard me yell and he said " no, they were busy with their toys and you can't hear stuff from up there down here anyway."
    via u/germangirrl
  • 18
    And we already have a plan for next year. Our kids always get one present from Santa and the rest, they know, are from us or the rest of the family and friends. The gifts from Santa will be placed under the tree and they can open them at their leisure. The rest of the gifts won't appear until everybody is present.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 19
    Thank you to everybody who had reasonable input. And while there were some intense, strange, and even downright r de comments, I appreciate all the kind words I received. There are still people out there who try to make the world a better place.
    via u/germangirrl
  • 20
    Tessie1966 • 3d ago Top 5% Commenter Our rule for Christmas morning with our kids was always wait until mom and dad get up and make coffee before opening presents. They learned how to make coffee at an early age to speed up the process.
    via u/Tessie1966
  • 21
    • C... 3d ago Edited 3d ago • Have five kids, four to sixteen. Wife was up until four a.m. wrapping and our smallest ones are relentless, so I slept on a mat at the top of the stairs and held the line until she was awake to do presents.
    via u/corkscrew-duck
  • 22
    EDIT: my goodness you guys. I, too, was up all night doing Christmas sh. stop impugning my holiday integrity.
    via u/corkscrew-duck
  • 23
    ClauClaus 4d ago • How has this been handled previous years? Did he wake you up then?
    via u/ClauClaus
  • 24
    Current-Photo28... Top 5% Commenter 4d ago Info: Your kids are 5 and 7; this isn't your first family Christmas. What has happened on previous years? I'm assuming you didn't sleep through them?
    via u/Current-Photo28
  • 25
    Incognito0925 • 4d ago • NTA but, since you're German AND have trouble sleeping (and probably being awake in the morning), I would consider going back to your roots and opening presents on the evening of the 24th. That way you can't
    via u/Incognito0925
  • 26
    miss it and you pass on a bit of your cultural heritage to your kids. That's just a suggestion of course and I know that Ratschläge sind auch Schläge
    via u/Incognito0925
  • 27
    • goonerhsmith 3d ago • ESH Your husband is an ah le for not waking you. You're an a hole for allowing it to ruin your childrens' Christmas. At 5 and 7, they heard you "screaming like crazy" and will notice your lack of emotional control the rest of the day.
    via u/goonerhsmith

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