'I'm a Grinch and I'm not sorry': Grandparents purchase VIP holiday tickets for family, then gives them to strangers after ex daughter-in-law tries to hijack the event to impress her new in-laws

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Dec 24, 2025 4:00 PM EST

In the complicated world of co-parenting, the holidays often bring out the best in people... or the very worst. For many families, the goal is to keep the peace for the sake of the children. This usually requires a lot of patience and the ability to ignore small slights. However, some people see this kindness as an opportunity to take advantage of others. When a generous grandmother offered to host a luxury holiday outing, she didn't expect to be uninvited from her own event by the very person she was trying to help.

The conflict began during the planning of a local holiday event at a petting zoo. The evening featured light displays, sleigh rides, and a full dinner. To make the night special, the grandmother and her husband bought expensive VIP tickets for everyone, including her son's ex-partner, Anna, and Anna's new boyfriend. They even arranged for the tickets to be left at the gate so everyone could arrive separately. 

Two hours before the event, Anna called with a list of demands. She claimed she wanted the night to be for family only, a definition that suddenly excluded the people who had paid for the tickets. She was attempting to use the grandparents' money to host her new boyfriend's mother while cutting the grandparents out of the picture. She even tried to dictate a list of expensive toys for her daughter, Crystal, that the child hadn't even asked for.

Instead of arguing, the grandparents decided to take a different path. Since Anna insisted on a family only night, they decided to go with their own son and enjoy the event themselves. When they reached the ticket booth, they didn't let the extra VIP passes go to waste. They asked the staff to give the tickets to the next couple with kids who arrived at the gate without passes. They turned a moment of greed into a random act of kindness for strangers.

The fallout was immediate. 

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  • When Anna arrived at the gate expecting a free VIP experience for her new mother-in-law, she found nothing waiting for her. She was forced to pay double the price for basic admission, which didn't even include the rides or the dinner. While the granddaughter, Crystal, spent the evening enjoying the VIP perks with her father and grandparents, Anna and her guests were left frustrated on the sidelines. They eventually left early because they didn't want to pay for the extra costs.

    In the end, Anna called the grandmother a Grinch for ruining her holiday gift. However, this story serves as a classic reminder that entitlement has its limits. 

  • senior couple with small granddaughter at Christmas holding present
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.


     

  • "I'm a Grinch and I'm not sorry"

    A little background: My son Colton (29) and the mother Anna(28) of his daughter (Crystal) (5)spilt several years ago, and she has a new boyfriend(David) and a new born baby boy.
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  • My husband (55m) and I (49f) try very hard to include them in various family plans.
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  • Recently we had all discussed going to a holiday event at the local petting zoo. It was a nighttime event with lights, small sleighs pulled by mini horses, Christmas caroling and various other entertainment, plus a chuck wagon style dinner.
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  • My husband offered to pay for everyone. A few days before the event he found VIP tickets to the event at a good price so he bought them.
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  • *Kids got in for free We had planned on all arriving in separate vehicles so my husband arranged for everyone's tickets to be waiting at the gate.
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  • The original plan was to go to the event, then my granddaughter would stay with her dad at night and me during the day until Christmas.
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  • Anna calls me 2 hours before the event and tells me she discussed things with David's mom, and his mom wanted it to just be FAMILY for the event, and we could take our granddaughter from the 26th to the 1st.
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  • She went on to tell me they'd further discussed things and that they didn't want Crystal to get tons of toys, they would only allow clothes, jewelry and if it was a toy, she wanted American Girl stuff.
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  • (My granddaughter had asked me for ice skates, a robot dinosaur and art stuff, she had never mentioned American Girl stuff at all to me or my husband and son).
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  • I was pretty pissed off at this point because money had been spent, plans had been made and waiting till last minute to change everything just annoys me.
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  • After quick discussion with my husband and my son, we decided the three of us would still go to the event.
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  • We got there early and told the girl at the ticket booth to please give our other 2 tickets to the next couple with kids to came to the gate but didn't already have passes.
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  • Cheezburger Image 10590355200
    via Belov Sergey For Unsplash+
  • Roughly 30 minutes later Anna calls me screaming about how there were no tickets for them, she thought we'd just give our tickets to them, David's mom and her date.
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  • I told her "I'll gladly bring Crystal in since she's my family, but y'all said you wanted to be with just your family".
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  • She ended up spending twice what we had paid for last minute general admission, which meant the little rides and food would cost extra, while Crystal tagged along with us and enjoyed all the perks while her mom and the rest ended up leaving early because they didn't want to pay another $20 per person for dinner.
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  • As she left she told me that I'm a Grinch and I ruined her Christmas gift for her new mother in law.
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  • I'm not even remotely sorry other than the fact my granddaughter got stuck in the crossfire.
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  • sisterandnotsister Exactly. I see why your son and her are no longer together. I'd get the granddaughter everything she asked for for Christmas and just keep it at your son's house.
    via sisterandnotsister
  • OP [deleted] That's the plan because I have a feeling that anything that's not on her approved list will end up being returned
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  • Winnie the Pooh58 Any gifts you got for granddaughter can stay at your or her father's house. It's what she wants, not what her mom wants that matters.
    via WinniethePooh58
  • OP [deleted] That was the plan because mama seems to "misplace" toys and other things that don't meet her idea of her fairytale.
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  • Aragona36 Why would she think you'd be buying her tickets for an activity you organized and she disinvited you to at the last minute? That's bold. I understand why she's not with your son anymore. Good for you. Bonus to the family who benefited from your act of goodness donating the two extra tickets.
    via Aragona36
  • giftandglory If by Grinch she means: Grandma Rightly Implements Nice Child Handouts Then yeah, you are :)
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  • Useless890 She doesn't want you around, but she still expects you to pay for them? What moron raised her? This is NOT how the world works. You get that girl what she wants for Christmas and keep it at your house if you have to. An art set would provide hundreds of hours more fun than a doll she doesn't want. I'm on her side with the dinosaur as well. I feel sorry for that child. It sounds as if she's being forced into someone else's mold.
    via Useless890
  • krissycole87 Good on you for not entertaining this womans awful behavior. When people split, I know there is a temptation to keep planning events with both parents; But it pretty much always ends this way. Dont fall into that trap. Make sure your son has an ironclad custody agreement, and then interact with this woman only so much as the agreement requires. No more, no less. Hope you guys had fun!
    via krissycole87
  • GroovyYaYa Does your son have 50/50 custody? Because with the gifts - you simply say that I'm sorry, I've already purchased what Crystal asked me for and Colton thought the presents were fine. As for the "Grinch" - stay calm and collected. "I'm sorry Anna. You didn't say anything about wanting to use the tickets my husband had purchased for our family. I thought your mother in law was treating you and I respect wanting to keep it to family - this was a planned activity for MY family that we were
    via GroovyYaYa
  • Coder Joe1 I bet she still believes she was wronged by you. I feel bad for your granddaughter.
    via CoderJoe1
  • clynkirk American Girl dolls and accessories are RIDICULOUSLY expensive (and not what your granddaughter wanted anyways). I'm thinking that her mom wanted to resell or regift the items, especially if she can't afford $20 for a meal out.
    via clynkirk

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family drama co parenting kids in laws grandparents holidays
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