Man Takes Teenage Son on 3-Day Vacation to Bond, but Wife Says They're ‘Excluding' Her

Yahoo

3 days ago

The man only sees his 13-year-old son from a previous marriage on the weekendsNEED TO KNOW
A man shared that he planned a "quick trip" to San Diego with his teenage son from a previous marriage
His wife of six years claimed that he is "excluding her" and their 2-year-old son
He turned to Reddit to ask if he was in the wrongA man found himself at odds with his wife after planning a trip with his 13-year-old son.
The father shared on Reddit's "AITAH" forum that he planned a "quick trip" to San Diego with his teenage son from a previous marriage, which ended around eight years ago.
The poster and his ex-wife had 50/50 custody of their son for the first year. For four years after, he had his son from Monday to Friday. However, he then became the "weekend parent" due to several reasons, such as his busy work schedule and the better school districts near his ex-wife's house.
The man now shares a toddler with his wife of six years. The two recently went on two solo trips together; otherwise, he said, "We had not a single night alone together for 20 months."
Wanting to spend quality time with his teenage son, the father planned a three-day vacation for the two of them to go to San Diego.
"When I asked him in the beginning of the summer break what he wanted to do he listed off one thing, go to the beach," the dad explained.
However, he landed himself in a sticky situation when his wife reacted poorly to the plans.
The man explained that he left his wife out of the planning because she is a flight attendant and "travels almost every weekend."
"This means my weekends with my 13 year old are alone with his baby brother, making it challenging for us to have any quality time together just he and I," he explains. "This means my son has gone from having his dad every night, to 50/50, to weekends, and then to weekends shared with a baby."
"This has riddled me with guilt and I wanted so time just he and I to reinforce our bond," he added of his intentions with the father-son trip.
Despite explaining himself, the man's wife has told him that "she is hurt" by his plans.
"She feels her and our new son are being excluded and that it is dividing the family," he adds.
The father sympathized with her feelings, but hopes that his teenage son's "perception of the situation would override that."
"In a couple years when our youngest is older, this would 100% be a family trip," he explains. "We all know how disruptive a small child can be when doing anything and my 13 year old has that every single weekend. I wanted him to have this trip without that."
The man noted that he and his wife have a road trip planned for later this year, emphasizing that the trip to California "is not in lieu of any activities with her."
Regardless, he says his wife is now "ghosting" him and his son over their trip.
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After the father asked if he was in the wrong, the comments section was quick to side with him in the conflict. "Your wife gets you all the time. Your 13 yo has very limited time with you, and it's shared time. Your son having one trip alone with his dad won't hurt her," one person wrote.
The commenter added that the wife "sounds jealous and immature."
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Another person expressed concern for the son, asking, "Is she always this resentful of your son? Check in with him and make sure she hasn't been unkind to him."
A third commenter pointed out that he "doesn't have that much time left" with his teenage son. "Soon there will be high school, part-time jobs and activities that are not hanging with parents. You should take your older son on the trip! Your wife needs to understand how important this is," they wrote.
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