‘I won’t go to my family Christmas – they expect me to sleep outside in a tent’

A woman was left baffled after her mum asked her round for Christmas, along with her siblings, but told her she expected her to sleep outside in a tent whilst her siblings slept indoors

Christmas is a time when many people go and visit their families – some of which they haven’t seen in ages. Before you go and stay with them, it’s likely you’ll have sleeping arrangements sorted, which likely involve sleeping in a bed, on a couch, or worst case scenario somewhere in the house in a sleeping bag. Whilst not ideal, you’d be able to put up with it for a short period of time.

One woman took to Reddit’s ‘Am I the a**hole’ forum to state that she’d refused to stay with her family because they expected her to stay in an unusual location in the house.

She wrote: “I, 18f, am the youngest out of four kids. My siblings are 31m, 28f, and 25m.

“We were raised by our dad and step mum, and our biological mum lives in another country with her husband. She wants me and my siblings to spend Christmas with her this year and has offered to pay for our transport and visas.

“My siblings are all married and have kids and are gonna bring their spouses and kids with them. Our mum’s house is quite big and she said she’ll spread out air mattresses in the living room and there’s a guest room.

“She didn’t say anything specifically to me about where I’d be sleeping so I assumed I’d be sleeping on one of the air mattresses.

“Well, one of my brothers told me that my mum expects me to sleep in a tent outside. I honestly thought he was messing with me but when I asked my mum about it it turns out she did. The conversation wasn’t in English but it basically went like this:

“Me: [brother’s name] said that you expect me to sleep outside in a tent? Is this true?

“Mum: yeah, I thought you would be fine with having your own tent.

“Me: why didn’t you talk to me about it?

“Mum: I didn’t think it would be a problem. Is it a problem?

“Me: it is, I don’t want to sleep outside.

“Mum: I don’t know what you want me to do, there’s too many of you.

“Me: can I sleep on the couch?

“Mum: no, [husband’s name] likes to watch TV late, you’ll be a nuisance.

“Me: I don’t know then, but I’m not sleeping outside. I’d rather not go.

“My mum told all my siblings about the conversation and now they’re all mad at me and told me to suck it up and go. They said I’m being selfish and making a fuss about nothing, and that I can’t expect any of them to sleep outside with their spouses or kids.

“I told my dad about it and he’s now royally p***** off with my mum and said that she’s being “a mega b****” and alienating me on purpose and they had a huge argument on the phone. My siblings are all mad at me for causing this.

“Edit: my mum lives in Western Europe, so it will be very cold there and most likely snow as well.”

People were horrified that it was even suggested that the woman could sleep in a tent, saying they would also refuse to attend.

One wrote: “The fact that your step-dad wanting to watch tv at night is more important than you being able to sleep inside tells you exactly where you stand in your mother’s priority list.

“If your a**hole siblings continue to pretend that sleeping outside in a tent during winter isn’t a big deal, tell them that you accept their offer to switch beds with them.”

Another fumed: “Even in the sunny hot places this is a d*** move.”

Someone else raged: “If they live in a populated area, regardless of exactly where on this planet, you have to worry about people creating a risk to the original poster’s safety. If they live in an isolated area, you have to worry about wildlife creating a risk to the original poster’s safety. Either way, this is a stupid idea.”

What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.