Marriages, and relationships in general, take work to maintain. One wife went the extra mile to make sure her husband’s birthday was special. She admits she likes to go over the top and did not expect the same treatment back. But she did want him to at least try, and even specifically told him what to get her. For some reason, he did not understand the assignment leaving her disappointed.
This let-down wife took to Reddit to get outsiders to weigh in on her next steps. She wants to give the unthoughtful gift back, but worries that it will make her seem like a jerk. The keyboard warriors on the forum were more than happy to give their two cents on this bummer of a situation.
She is big on birthdays.
“My husband (28) and I (27F) have birthdays during the same week,” the wife’s story begins. "I am big on birthdays so for my husbands I often go all out, and he also does a great job with my birthday most of the time. I do not expect the same level as I give because I know I do a lot."
She got her husband the perfect gift.
She really went all out. “For my husband's birthday this year I threw a big party for him,” she recalled. “People flew in from other states and I got it catered and it was so fun. I also spent a LOT of money and time on it. I was planning it for months. I also got him a very nice gift that is something he will definitely use. He showed everyone at the party because it really was perfect lol.”
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The day got off to a rocky start.
The wife fast forwards to her birthday, which was nothing like her husband’s. “So my birthday comes. I wake up and he's golfing. Then he gets home and tells me the plan for my birthday is to go to a bakery and a bookstore,” she recalled. “I was starving so we got brunch first. Then we go the bookstore and I left my credit card at work so I had no money and asked if he'd get a book for me for my birthday and he originally said no, but eventually he relented. Then we go to the bakery and I got a coffee and a few treats. It was kind of a serve yourself type place, and every time I picked up an item he got annoyed about the cost and made a comment. It was NOT an expensive bakery. The average item cost $2-3 and I got 3 items lol. We also got a slice of cake to share. I went to the bathroom and got back and he had eaten most of the cake. The day was very nice but I was kinda sad about the lack of effort and then the constant complaining about the cost of things. (now is a good time to mention we don't struggle with money in the slightest).”
It did not get better.
This is the time most readers are hoping the husband redeems himself. Sadly, he did not. “So then he mentions my birthday present. I was very clear on what I wanted for my birthday — tickets to my fav artist. And no, not Taylor Swift,” the wife went on to explain. “I told him like 5 times. You could get very good seats for about $60-70 per person. So he tells me I'll get my gift on Friday and its an event and he wants to keep it a surprise. And Friday is the day of the concert so I got super excited expecting tickets.”
Let's play ball!
When she found out what the present really was, she was shocked. “Well long story short, I find out my gift is attending a baseball game,” she stated. “I was immediately annoyed because I HATE baseball (sorry baseball fans). Everyone knows I hate baseball. And he also hates it! I would rather just not get a gift at all then pretend to enjoy sitting through a whole baseball game.” She wants the forum's opinion if she would be mean for just giving them back?
The forum sides with the wife.
The majority of the forum was on the wife’s side.
“It sounds like he doesn’t even like you,” wrote on user.
“I probably would have cried after all the effort put into his bday,” confessed another.
“This is like… purposefully mean,” chimed in a third.
Some wonder if there are bigger issues at play here.
One user asked: "Is he trying to break up with you?"
Many on the site agreed there could be deeper issues at play here, especially since he was historically better at celebrating her birthday.
"There is definitely something else up," advised another user. "I would dig deeper."
Another user thinks he secretly has the tickets and that the wife is going to ruin her surprise. They advise she waits it out. Others chimed in about how making her feel bad was not the best way to surprise her if this was true.
“I for one think you shouldn't screw up the birthday/special day of someone and hurt them to 'surprise' them,” wrote one user.
An even darker take.
Some on the forum have another theory. They don’t think the husband even paid for the baseball tickets. They believe he got them for free through his employer.
A conversation needs to be had.
The bottom line is the wife needs to have a conversation with her husband. She can express her disappointment about his behavior and see if there is anything else going on. Then maybe figure out what to do with those baseball tickets. There’s always the option to resell them on StubHub after all.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
