AITA for asking my husband to check on me while playing video games?

A Redditor expressed concerns about their husband’s intense gaming sessions, which last for hours with headphones on, leaving him unaware of potential emergencies at home. After a minor fall highlighted this issue.

They requested their husband take a quick mid-session break to check in on them. The husband dismissed this as an overreaction. Is this a fair request, or is the Redditor asking too much? Read the original story below for the full details:

‘ AITA for asking my husband to check on me while playing video games?’

My husband is an avid computer gamer – mostly WoW-type games. Approximately five nights of the week, he’ll play games online from the time that our son goes to bed at 8:00 or 8:30 to about 12:30, so at least four continuous hours. That in itself is not at all an issue for our relationship.

He spends plenty of time with me and our son, and I have my own hobbies that he isn’t interested in that I engage in when he’s online. A few nights ago I was doing laundry while he was playing online, and I stepped on a toy that my son had left on the basement stairs. I fell pretty hard and dropped the basket.

Luckily because of the way my weight was shifted I fell backwards rather than forwards, resulting in a bruise on my b**t but I was otherwise fine. The laundry basket clattered down the stairs, ricocheted off some basement furniture, shot laundry everywhere. It was a huge racket. It woke up my son. My husband, who had his headphones on, heard literally nothing.

It dawned on me that if something really bad happened to me, my husband wouldn’t know about it for potentially four hours – like what if I broke my leg falling down the stairs? So I asked if he would be willing, for my peace of mind, to just pop out of his office at the mid-point each night just to check on me.

Like literally, just say hi and go back to gaming. He thinks this is a huge overreaction and a waste of time. I know for a fact that he isn’t actively playing the entire time and he sometimes takes breaks to go to the bathroom or get a snack or whatever, so how is this different? AITA?

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

[Reddit User] −  NTA – My SO is a gamer similar to yours and in between games he has always came to check on me, kiss me etc. He has always done this from when we were dating to now living together.

I think it’s really important, not only to check up on you but to let you know he is thinking of you (or maybe I have gotten used to it!!) Edit: I now realise why I’m being challenged with my N A H response. I thought N A H meant “not the hole” 😂🤷🏻‍♀️, I really mean NTA. Sorry!

HoldenH −  NTA I think that’s a fair compromise for him playing WoW 5 nights a week for four hours

Phoenixwolf99 −  NTA. I don’t know much about WoW, but every game has some kind of breaking point in it that leaves time to go and do little things (like going to the bathroom). All you’re asking for is some peace of mind that he, as your husband, should be happy to do for you.

Tamminya −  Nta, there’s a story somewhere on Reddit about a guy upstairs playing games with noise cancelling headphones. People broke in and attacked his wife (possibly s**ually assaulted her, I can’t remember). This is a totally valid request.

PRSMesa182 −  NTA: I do it all the time for my wife, don’t see why he can’t.

um_ik_rite −  NTA. This is a basic courtesy you are asking for from someone who is your partner and is supposed to care for you. It’s funny because this is something that actually happened-ish to myself and my husband a few years ago. I was taking a bath and he was playing video games.

I dropped something and it made a very loud noise which he heard. Like 5 minutes later he checked on me and asked if I was ok. I asked about the delay, curious as to why he was checking now,

and he said he wanted to wait until his he loaded, since he wasn’t sure something was wrong. I explained that if something were I might already be dead by the time he checked. Now I can’t drop the shampoo without him making sure I am ok.

sakurita1594 −  NTA. I had this same issue with my husband the other day. He was playing with headphones on and I was in the kitchen putting dishes away (I’m pregnant btw) and the whole cabinet came off the wall and almost crushed me! I reacted super quickly and caught it and began screaming for help and NOTHING.

A neighbor came in running before my husband even noticed. I was pretty shook. I told him he needed to lower the volume cause the baby and I could’ve been seriously hurt if the NEIGHBOR hadn’t come to help me.

Hungry_Dino −  Nta. This reminds me of the post where the guy was gaming with noise cancelling headphones on and didn’t realize his wife was being raped downstairs. She was being assaulted for 10 mins before he realized something was wrong….

NaryaGenesis −  How about only one ear covered by the headphones? Could solve both your problems. I NTA. But i think the timing is off as he thinks you’re simply doing this simply because you fell down. Which to men doesn’t necessarily make sense

MegaLoz22 −  NTA. I was engaged to a gamer who would literally play all day (lost his job and refused to get another one). We’re talking wake up at noon, game until 4/5am. One day I fell in the shower – products smashed all over the floor, tile broken etc. LOUD. Absolutely no reaction whatsoever.

Luckily I was ok apart from a few bruises and a sore head but I could have easily cracked my head open. I just kinda sat there crying in self pity for a while, then went back out and he just completely ignored the obvious mess I was in – asked him also to check in and got a hard no.. Yeah… he’s gone now.

Is it unreasonable to ask a partner to check in during extended gaming sessions, or is this a small but important step for peace of mind? How would you balance personal hobbies with shared responsibilities? Share your thoughts below!