AITA for calling out step-family’s dirty laundry at Thanksgiving after they criticized me for being unmarried?
A Redditor shares how she ended up calling out her step-family’s “dirty laundry” during Thanksgiving dinner after being criticized for being unmarried and child-free. After years of constant comments about her lifestyle choices, she finally snapped and pointed out the issues in her step-siblings’ lives, which brought the dinner to a halt. Read the full story below.
‘ AITA for calling out step-family’s dirty laundry at Thanksgiving after they criticized me for being unmarried?’
I’m still getting s**t for this from my family so it’s possible I may be a bit of the AH here. I’m 29F, the players are my mom, step-dad, and four step-siblings (35M, 37M, 40F, 42M) and their families. I’m the black sheep in that I’m the only one not married with kids, but that’s by my preference.
I love living alone, I don’t want kids, and having a partner just isn’t that important to me. My family has been asking me when I’m going to get a boyfriend and settle down since I was 19 and the answer has always been “ew, never”. I was going to skip Thanksgiving, but my mom insisted that she wanted everyone home this year if possible so I went.
It was the usual drill, but youngest step-brother and his wife are having another kid so that was the big announcement. This was fine until around the end of dinner one of the SSILs asks if I’m not anxious to have kids since I’m almost 30 and time is running out. I laughed and said “Nah, I’m good.” That led to one of the step-brothers saying that every family needs an old maiden aunt and some other comments I didn’t appreciate.
I said let’s move on, but my mom said “We’re just worried about you.” This is where I’m possibly the AH. I know all the family dirt so I said, “Well, I’m the only person at this table that’s not an a**oholic, a c**ater, or constantly broke af because I have more kids than I can afford so I’m not the one to worry about.”
And that’s how I brought Thanksgiving to a dead halt and no one said a thing for the rest of dinner, but my texts are radioactive still. I feel like it was probably riding the line and my mom says this has caused a lot of problems among the siblings, but also they kinda started it.
See what others had to share with OP:
SnooDoughnuts4691 − NTA – Hands down the best Thanksgiving showstopper ever. They fucked around and found out! 🤣🤣🤣🤣. Edit: spelling
FunkyOrangePenguin − NTA. They were being unnecessarily rude. Why dish it out if you can’t take it? “Every family needs a spinster aunt” I’m pretty sure they’re referred to as the cool aunt these days.
misssassysamosa − NTA, but now I need to know who’s the a**oholic, the c**ater and whose broke.
MariaLynd − NTA. Your family simply got back what they dished out. Your Mom insisted you join them for Thanksgiving. That wasn’t your plan or what you wanted, but you were a good soul and agreed.
To make you feel welcome and happy to be with your family on a big holiday, your family started with the inappropriate comments and digs. Putting you on the spot with everyone watching.
You asked them to stop and then the Mom who insisted on family unity doubled-down on the implied criticism. They played an unwanted family game with you and won unwanted prizes. On the upside, you may have a permanent pass from upcoming family gatherings. I’d take that as a win.
Straight-Singer-2912 − *Well, I’m the only person at this table that’s not an a**oholic, a c**ater, or constantly broke af because I have more kids than I can afford so I’m not the one to worry about.*. This is (chef’s kiss) – perfect..
Here’s what they said: *”Are you anxious to have kids? You’re almost 30 and time is running out”*.
then *”Every family needs an old maiden aunt”*.
then. *”some other comments”* 3 balls thrown down the middle while you’re at the plate – you had to swing at that point.. NTA.
bunnybaby17 − NTA. HAHHAAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
Suzan7420 − The ones calling her an a hole can I ask why ? Because she stood up for herself ? She asked them to leave it alone, they didn’t. She has already and always told them how she felt. The main problem with some family is that they don’t respect boundaries.
cheekmo_52 − Oh can I relate to this post! I’m going to say NTA, because your step-siblings shouldn’t dish out what they’re unwilling to take. They made it clear that they think criticizing other’s lifestyle choices is fair game. All you did was give as good as you got.
PenguinAlive − I’m going with NTA, because I think asking anyone about their procreation desires and then suggesting they’re somehow wrong is incredibly rude and offensive. There’s only so long someone can take that without biting back.
Redlight0516 − Info: Does everyone at the table know who is who out of those things or are some people trying to figure out which one of those applies to their specific partner?. NTA and hilarious
Was the Redditor justified in standing up for herself and calling out her family’s hypocrisy, or did she take things too far by airing their issues at a family gathering? How would you have handled the situation? Share your thoughts below!
