A woman, who bought her son a game console for his birthday, took to Reddit to reveal she refused to lie to him about his father breaking it, gaining wide support online.
The viral post, which has garnered over 12,000 upvotes, was shared to the subreddit "Am I The A**hole" on February 14 by u/JuliaFive5676. The post is titled, "AITA for exposing my ex-husband for taking the gift I got for my son's 16th birthday?"
The woman, who claimed her ex divorced her after becoming diagnosed with cancer, said he's now married to a woman who calls the original poster (OP) "mocking nicknames."
She said she has tried to have a good relationship with her ex when it came to co-parenting their teen son, who lives at both places. His 16th birthday was a few days ago, and the mom bought him a game console, sending it to his father's house ahead of the birthday as she was out of town and couldn't attend the party.
The OP continued: "Two days later, one day before the birthday, my ex-husband called saying he opened the gift I got for our son, used it, and broke it. I was in dismay when he told me, and I started arguing with him about paying for it to replace it, but he started pleading saying he has no money and asked that I either send another gift [didn't have to be a console] or just tell our son I didn't send him a gift."
The OP told her ex there was "no way" she was going to lie to their son despite him "begging" and saying he would pay her back once he could. She ended the call to phone her son to tell him what happened with his birthday gift.
According to Statista, the PlayStation 2 is the best-selling video game console of all time. Almost 158 million units have been sold in the world as of 2022. The PlayStation 5 has sold 18.45 million units as of February 2022.
The OP added: "A huge fight ensued, and my ex-husband called me yelling saying I not only ruined our son's birthday celebration, but ruined his relationship with him over a stupid console that he was going to pay for, but I was being spiteful trying to one-up him."
Their son came back to his mother's place and hasn't talked to his father since. The OP said her ex is blaming her as their son refused to stay and celebrate with his dad after learning what he did. The OP also revealed their ex said he threw the console away after accidentally breaking it.
But things didn't end there. The OP's ex's wife apparently "berated" her in a text mentioning how she "caused a scene," using their son as "a tool" to get back at the father.
"She said she 'doesn't get me,' and that there's something wrong with my personality," the OP continued. "She even claimed she would be a better, more mature mom than me and never involve her kids in her fights with her partner."
Over a thousand comments came rolling in for the OP, and people supported the woman with harsh criticism for her ex. Some think the OP's ex could have ulterior motives. "I don't think he broke it," a Redditor wrote about the console. "Selling it and saying he broke it achieves his same purpose, plus profit."
A Reddit user didn't think the OP is in the wrong, asking what kind of grown man opens his child's birthday gift, using it, "and just like magic, breaks it." They also added, "I'm ready to bet he broke the gift on purpose because he didn't buy your son anything and didn't want to look like a loser."
While some had thoughts about the ex-husband's wife. "NTA, and you need to tell the ex's new wife to sit down and STFU," someone declared. "You are co-parenting with the father. Not her."
One Redditor admitted they'd take legal action if they were in the woman's shoes. "NTA, and I'd be taking him to small claims court for the cost of the console."
A user thought the OP's son isn't a baby, and he's old enough to "understand" what went down. "It also gives me the feeling this isn't the only reason he stopped talking to his dad," they added. "Also, his dad never thought how immature to open your child's gift in the first place, but you're the immature one? Smh."
Gaslighting was also brought up under the circumstances. "NTA," a user expressed. "In fact, I am bordering on p**sed off not only at your ex's actions but that you are allowing yourself to wonder. It's gaslighting you big time."
Another Redditor brought up the fact that the woman's ex opened and used something that wasn't even his. "Actions have consequences, he chose to ruin his son's present," they said. "Now he is facing those consequences. The fact he wanted you to lie, proves what a manipulative s**t him and his wife are."
Newsweek reached out to u/JuliaFive5676 for comment.
