Her Family Has Always Gone On A Christmas Morning Hike, But Her Son’s New Girlfriend Does Not Want To Participate, So Now She And Her Son Are Stuck In A Stalemate Trying To Compromise The Tradition
Ever since this woman can remember, her family has always gone on a hike to start off Christmas morning. Her own family did it all throughout her own childhood; plus, her husband’s family did it, and many of her friends do, too.
“For some, it’s just a walk, or others go into the city and do an easy five or ten-kilometer run,” she noted.
Over the last six months, though, her son Porter has been dating a girl named Emily– who will be joining them for Christmas this year.
Emily and Porter will be coming in from the city, which is about three hours away, to stay with her family– which she is very happy about.
After all, she has met Emily before and thinks the young woman is a great match for Porter. And to be honest, she never wanted to be involved in the typical mother-in-law/daughter-in-law drama.
“I know there’s all that hoopla, and I just have no time for any of that. If Porter likes Emily, and she treats him with kindness, and he does the same, then who am I to complain,” she said.
During Thanksgiving, though, she decided to have a Skype call with her son and Emily to go over the plans for Christmas. For instance, who is bringing what items and how the gift exchange works.
It was also during that call that she reminded Emily to bring hiking boots and explained how her family would have “plenty of Yaktrax”– or a walking traction device– just in case the trails get icy.
And after going over all of that, she realized that Emily looked visibly confused. Then, her son’s girlfriend asked why they would need hiking boots at all– which made her realize that her son had never told his girlfriend about the family tradition.
den-belitsky – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
So, at that point, she just explained how the family always hiked on Christmas morning and invited Emily along. Her son’s girlfriend was not too thrilled, though, and reportedly got quiet before asking if she had to go.
“I said no, of course, Emily does not have to, but we have always done this, and I was surprised Porter didn’t mention it,” she explained.
Then, the day after Thanksgiving, she received a call from her son– in which he explained how Emily was not in great shape.
So, Porter said that his girlfriend would likely struggle to keep up with the rest of the family, even if they hiked on one of the easier local trails.
Her son also suggested that instead of going on the traditional hike, her family downgrade the excursion and do a short, simple family walk around the neighborhood this year. That way, Emily would feel more welcome.
Rather than accepting that, though, she instead brought up how perhaps Porter and Emily could just stay back at the house and enjoy a nice quiet morning together while the rest of the family goes on the hike.
Apparently, she also admitted to remembering what it was like being young with Porter’s father on Christmas, and she cherished spending special alone time together on the holiday.
Not to mention, this is going to be Emily’s first time ever spending Christmas with the family– so she knows that it will be overwhelming and thought getting some solo time would be a nice way to decompress.
To her surprise, though, Porter actually got pretty pissed off by her suggestion and accused her of not listening to him. Then, he reiterated his belief that her family needed to either cut down the hike or make a different plan altogether.
So, at that point, she started to get frustrated, too and pointed out how this Christmas hike has been a family tradition for decades.
“And changing it for one person is not fair to the rest of the family,” she vented.
Despite her best efforts to convince her son, though, they are now at a stalemate. And even after offering to go on a separate neighborhood walk with Porter and Emily following their relaxing morning alone, her son still said no.
In turn, she has been left wondering if refusing to change their family tradition this year for her son’s girlfriend makes her a jerk or not.
Do you believe she has a right to want to continue the family tradition or not? Why do you think Porter is unwilling to compromise with a separate walk? If you were in her shoes, would you stick to your tradition or change it up to make Emily feel more welcome?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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