‘My wife ditched family Christmas plans over one comment from my mum – it’s ridiculous’

The woman is refusing to attend their family Christmas Day after being humiliated by her mother-in-law – but the husband thinks she’s overreacting

Family get-togethers at Christmas are a great for the most part, but tensions can creep in sometimes, whether you like it or not.

One mother-in-law has caused uproar with her Christmas tradition, as she’s already insulted at least one family member before the big day has even arrived.

Her festive tradition of rating other relative’s desserts has left her daughter-in-law incredibly upset, but the husband feels as though she’s overreacting to his mum’s divisive game.

Taking to Reddit to explain the fiasco, he wrote: “For every holiday my mother asks the women in the family (my sisters, sister in-law, my wife, my female cousins) to send ‘samples’ of the desserts they plan to bring to the celebration for testing, to see if these desserts could make it to the ‘food menu’.

“My wife has been complaining that my mother deliberately rejects every dessert sample she has sent. So many times my mother has told her that she’s being honest and keeping the guests best interest at heart.

“Yet my wife still thought that my mother was deliberately excluding her since two of her dessert samples were rejected before.”

The biggest conflicts can arise from the smallest of issues, and ‘dessert’ wars seems to be doing just that. This year, his mother has tweaked the rules.

“This Christmas my mother is doing the same thing but this time, she told every woman who is participating to make a ‘cookie sample’ and send it to her for testing.”

Despite past disappointments and rejections, his wife picks up the gambit and meets the cookie challenge head on.

“To be honest she worked really hard to make a good sample and sent it to my mother days ago and the results just came in yesterday.”

It wasn’t good news. She not only failed on the cookie front but her cookies have also been excluded from the Christmas menu this year.

“I came home from work and found my wife upset. She told me that my mother had rejected the sample she sent and decided to exclude her baking from the food list/menu for Christmas this year.”

This is one rejection too many, so she decides to take a stand and refuses to be part of his mother’s Christmas.

“I was stunned when I heard her make this statement. I tried to talk to her but she said ‘it was done’.”

“I called her unreasonable to decide to bail on the whole family over some cookie sample. That’s just freaking crazy and quite unreasonable.

“We had a full on argument about it and she stated that my mother caused this but I told her that my mother is pretty serious and careful about the food she offers to the guests since we are going to have relatives coming from all sides of country. She told me to stop mentioning it.”

He tried to reassure her, but his mother’s rejection of her baking is too much: “Later I heard her cry despite telling her that her baking is amazing and people have preferences that’s all.”

Many who commented on his past were baffled at his response, as one said: “Finally, after producing something she was unbelievably proud of, she was once again left embarrassed and most likely deeply hurt as she was deemed not good enough for yet another year.

“This is the straw that broke the camel’s back and she decides she has had enough of her humiliation and that she will not give her cruel MIL the satisfaction of seeing her discomfort on such a big day.”

Another added: “What a bizarre ‘tradition’. What the mom [sic] should do to make the tradition more ‘fun’ and not be the a****** is to ask everyone (not just the women) to participate, make sure the judging is blind (that no one knows who submitted the sample–like the technical challenge in Great British Baking Show).

“And, that she’s also not the only judge. I feel like this is something that should be fun, and instead it’s tyrannical and offensive and hurtful.”

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