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Mom Furious After Her Husband Bought Pricey Watches For Their Sons But Not Their Daughter

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The pandemic has brought many families closer as things have changed and now people are spending more time at home together.

Gifts and gestures are ways some people kept things positive.

For one Redditor mom seeing the grand gesture her husband made for their sons became bitter when their daughter was left out.

As a result, the Original Poster (OP) Throwaway298w  asked the “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) subReddit:

AITA for being mad at my husband for not giving our daughter the same/similar gift he gave our sons?”

The OP explained:
“My husband and I have three children together; two boys and a girl. Our sons are 20 and 18 and our daughter is 16.”

“Like many others, my husband and I have been working for home which has given us a chance to all be together as a family.”

”My husband is usually away a lot for work so we’ve never had the much time being all together. This past year has brought our family together more than anything else could.”

“The other day my husband sat down with our sons and started telling them a story about him growing up and spending time with family.”

”He said he heard something in a song that he thought was a good idea. He gifted them both pretty expensive watches saying to not think of the monetary value but to remind them to spend time where it matters.”

“Money isn’t a big issue for us but this has a price tag that’d I’d like to know in advance.”

“Later that day our daughter came to me and said she was upset that he did that for them but nothing for her, he didn’t even call her just to listen to him.”

“I thought the same so I went to talk to my husband. I asked him why he didn’t have anything for her.”

”He said she’s too young and it was just something for the boys but when I asked if he would do something similar for her when she was older, he said he probably wouldn’t stating that it wouldn’t hold the same value anymore. I got mad when he said that.”

”I feel like it was pretty disrespectful to say that he would do something for the boys and not our daughter. I told him that he should go apologize her for leaving her out but he refused.”

“I didn’t let him slide on the matter and brought it up again later and he told me to leave it alone.”

”We got into an argument about it and I told him that I felt he was being a bit misogynistic and didn’t really have a good reason for not doing anything for her or even letting her sit in on the conversation.”

“AITA for being so mad about it?”

The OP added a thankful edit after a slew of responses saying:

“I want to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to my post. You all have said a lot for me to consider.”

“I know some of you have questions but I’m so overwhelmed by all the responses I don’t think I’ll be replying to any but I will be thinking about all things said. Thank you and feel free to reply with more of your thoughts on the situation.”

OP asked Redditors what they thought by declaring: 

  • NTA – Not The A**hole
  • YTA – You’re The A**hole
  • NAH – No A**holes Here
  • ESH – Everyone Sucks Here

Redditors passed judgement of NTA for this mom.

However, users were quick to point out Dad’s actions make him TA.

“NTA. You ought to point out to your husband that from this point forward your daughter may no longer see the value in the time they spend together, considering he thinks less of her than her brothers.“~MonkeyWrench

NTA Yikes. It really says something that his life lesson to your sons was ‘to spend time where it matters.’ I guess time spent with his own daughter clearly doesn’t matter.”

“Good on you to advocate for your daughter when your husband is clearly being misogynistic towards your daughter. I’m very glad she has you on her side. I hope you’re able to do something swell for your daughter, she deserves it.”~Caligusads

NTA. I (f) had three brothers and one year my dad gifted us all these chain type things with words engraved on them, they weren’t very girly but he still gave me one and I cherish it to this day.”

“The year was also engraved on it, 2008, I have had it for twelve years and it still holds a special place in my heart. I would have been absolutely devastated if he had left me out of that.”~MichaelScarn75

NTA. He is showing blatant favoritism to the boys. It’s these sexist ideals that way too many people have these days.”~advait2701

NTA. Your husband sure is though, and we can all tell how much he clearly favors your two boys over your daughter. It’s disgusting, and I’m sorry your daughter has to deal with such hurtful treatment from her own damn father.”

”Why couldn’t he gave gotten her a watch too? Her age hasn’t nothing to do with it. It’s because she’s a girl.”

“Please go find something of equal monetary value to gift your daughter. This is something your husband should be doing, but he’s already decided that your daughter’s feelings don’t matter when he has two sons to favorite.”~TofuDumplingScissors

Clearly NTA. Just curious, what do your sons think about his actions?”

“Are they sticking up for their sister? Not only is your daughter now learning that her time with dad isn’t as valuable as your sons time is, but they too are seeing that it’s OK to treat their sister/women in general as afterthoughts.”

“I’d be very concerned about him reinforcing his misogyny within them.”~MikeTheVanMan

It sounds like OP has some long conversations with her husband ahead.

Written by Heidi Dockery

Heidi Dockery is a Maine artist & nature enthusiast with an affinity for libraries. She studies Criminal Justice with a special focus on psychology & sociology at the University of Maine. When not studying, painting, or re-reading the works of Terry Pratchett, she volunteers & enjoys various activities most would label nerdy.