'AITA for calling my husband a psycho for revealing news of our divorce in the children's presents?'

It’s not every day you hear about someone weaponizing Christmas gifts, but that’s exactly what went down when a woman’s soon-to-be ex-husband decided to reveal their divorce to their children in the most shocking way possible.

Taking to Reddit’s "Am I The A**hole" (AITAH) forum, the original poster (OP) shared her jaw-dropping story, asking if she was wrong for calling him a "f***ing psycho" after his little holiday stunt. 

Resentful husband slips notes about divorce into children's Christmas presents

According to OP’s post, she and her husband had been married for years but were on the brink of divorce.

She explained, "My stbex (soon-to-be-ex) husband and I have been married for a long time, but we’re going to get divorced soon. We've had our fair share of fights here and there, which is, normal for any couple, but he is the type of man who complains alot, make a ton of demands, and rarely does he acknowledge me or include me in big decisions."

While their marriage had its ups and downs, things took a nosedive when he was diagnosed with a medical condition. "I sympathized with his condition, but I knew this was gonna be the end of our marriage. I knew I could not handle this version of him with his condition and all," the OP wrote. 

The couple had agreed to wait until after Christmas to break the news to their children — aged 13 and 15 — so they could enjoy the holidays as a family.

"So I was very honest with him, and told him that i wanted divorce. He was open to it yet, resentful towards me (but he's been for a while now, so, yeah). We agreed to tell the kids after Christmas and just be together as a family and enjoy the Holidays," she mentioned. But OP’s husband clearly had other plans.

On Christmas morning, the children were greeted with a gut-punching surprise as they tore into their presents. Inside their gift boxes were papers announcing their parents’ divorce, complete with a cheery message: "Merry Christmas, Your mom is divorcing me."

The children were understandably devastated. "The house turned into a crying mess," OP recalled. "He wasn't even there, he went to get coffee or whatever. He knew what was gonna happen (thus he left the house in the morning)...I didn't know what to do, I tried my best to get them to calm down then called mom."

When he returned, OP let him have it. "He came and I absolutely blew up at him and called him 'f***ing psycho' for doing this to the kids, on Christmas no less. He defended himself saying I 'was no better' for 'deciding' to end our marriage right after his diagnosis. I told him it was more because of his awful character then anything else. but he has tainted my image to the kids as they now think I'm leaving him for his condition, and refused to speak to me," the woman wrote. 

The drama didn’t stop there. OP’s in-laws quickly took their son's side. "They all came at me. especially, his mother who hated me all those years for no apparent reason. She called me a b***h and said that if my relationship with the kids is ruined then it'd because of my own doing, and I have no one to blame but myself for being such an awful wife and mother," she shared. 

Feeling "utterly devastated," OP started second-guessing her reaction. "He's moving out and the kids are with mom. I'm feeling utterly devastated right now but started to think that my outburst was unnecessary..and calling him psycho and causing a scene instead of de-escalating the situation," the woman wondered. 

Was calling him a psycho too much? Should she have handled the situation differently? OP turned to Reddit for answers.

Redditors slam OP's husband over his 'unhinged behavior'

The top comments on the woman's post were firmly on her side, with many Redditors urging her to document her husband’s actions for the upcoming custody battle.

One expressed, "Remember, your relationship with your children is a marathon, not a sprint. One day they will look back on this and think their dad is a psycho. They will have lots of other examples of him being a n*t job by then. ‘Remember the Christmas Dad traumatized us?’ while sipping a wine together in their 30s over Christmas dinner. Always be the bigger person. Always rise above and put your kids first."

Another encouraged OP to gather evidence, writing, "NTA—And please, PLEASE keep the ‘letters’ that the father wrote for the children, and any video you tried to take of them opening their gifts as evidence you will need during the divorce proceedings as evidence of his unhinged behavior. Also keep copies and recordings of his family harassing you as well."

Someone else offered, "Make sure you document that and bring it to your lawyer- that’s definitely cause for slandering the other parent and causing emotional harm to the kids. What in the absolute duck is wrong with him?"

"That is another example of why he’s going to be an ex. He didn’t care about hurting his kids in Christmas. He just wanted to be petty and make you the bad guy," read another comment. 

"Should have left him so long ago," a Redditor declared. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.