A mom refused to travel with her fiancé after discovering he had booked first-class tickets for himself and his three children—while placing her two kids in economy. Her decision quickly sparked debate online, with many applauding her for standing up for her children and insisting on equal treatment.
She explained what happened:
“My fiancé has three kids from his previous marriage, and I have two from mine. I recently quit my job to focus on finishing my degree. He’s become the ‘breadwinner,’ though I still contribute using my savings. I also handle about 80% of the childcare and household chores.
Long story short, he wanted me and my kids to join him for Thanksgiving with his family, who live across the country. We were supposed to leave yesterday—going a few days early to get a rental place. He booked the tickets and handled all the arrangements. But before the flight, I found out that he, his kids, and I were booked in first class… while my two kids (14 and 10) were placed in economy.
I was stunned. He acted like it was no big deal and said it was just a few hours, that the kids could ‘just hang in there for a little while.’ I asked how he could possibly think that was acceptable. He got angry and said, since he was paying for the tickets, we had to go by his rules.
At that point, I turned around, took my kids, and walked out of the airport. He followed us, yelling for me to come back, but I refused and told him I no longer felt like spending Thanksgiving with his family after this. My youngest started crying because she’s never flown without me.
He went ahead with his kids. My kids and I are home. He hasn’t stopped calling—trying to berate me—and even had his mom text me. She said I needed to ‘get over myself’ and stop teaching my kids to be spoiled and entitled. According to her, the fact that I was willing to miss Thanksgiving with the family over something so ‘trivial’ showed my real character, personality, and mindset—or, as she put it, ‘lack thereof.’
I haven’t replied. But now I feel terrible. Should I have just let it slide and gone anyway?”
People in the comments were on her side.
- He needs to realize it’s not about first class plane tickets, it’s about viewing your kids as lesser than his. This will be a common theme in your marriage if you go through with it. Queen_Aurelia / Reddit
- First strike: Wrong for him to segregate your kids downward. Second strike: wrong for him to seat minor children away from a parent without that parent’s knowledge. Last strike: that he and his mother have teamed up against you. TrainingDearest / Reddit
- Your fiancé seems to be missing the point: It’s not that you expected your kids to be in 1st class, but that once everyone else was in 1st class, it was not okay to put them in economy. My brother’s widow is remarried to someone who makes a lot of money. I can assure that he treats her kids exactly as how he treats his own. DemainTomorrow / Reddit
- Either all kids fly one way or no dice. If you can afford first class for 4, you can afford first class for 6 or all fly economy if you don’t want kids to feel entitled. He has clearly shown where your kids rate to him, especially over his kids. Independent-Top3524 / Reddit
- His kids in first class, your kids in economy? That’s a bad sign for the future. Then his response is to berate you and future MIL, calling your kids spoiled and entitled? Even worse. It would not have ended here. I would be done with that relationship. corgwin / Reddit
Update to her story.
I’m currently getting myself and the kids packed so that we go stay with my mother. This has happened BEFORE in other instances, but I kept thinking to myself, “This is not right, but I have invested too much time and effort in this relationship, so maybe this shouldn’t get in the way.”
Distance and some re-evaluation is needed right now. My kids come first and that’s what I keep trying to do, and I hope I won’t ever fail.
Source: brightside.me