Woman slammed for complaining about her boyfriend’s ‘cheap’ handmade Valentine’s Day gift

‘He has more than a right to be upset with you,’ one respondent writes in the comments

Amber Raiken
New York
Wednesday 16 February 2022 11:59 EST
Comments
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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A woman has sparked debate after she implied to her boyfriend that his handmade gift for Valentine’s Day was “cheap.”

In a recent post shared in the Reddit thread “Am I The A**hole,”@u/throwtri434346, a 31-year-old detailed how she and her 37-year-old boyfriend have been together for two years. She also prefaced that he “has a decent job with a decent income and is into woodworking as a hobby.”

During their previous Valentine’s Day and birthday celebrations, he’d give her jewellery and she’d buy him sneakers. However, this year, he took a different approach.

“I found out today that his gift for me was a wooden framed photo of him, me, and the kids,” she wrote. “I gotta say I wasn’t thrilled with it.”

When she told her boyfriend her “honest opinion” about the gift, which he encouraged her to do, he “couldn’t believe it.” The woman also pointed out to him that he had the $200 to get her the necklace she wanted for an “engagement party.”

“But he said I was out of line to imply he was being cheap when all he was doing was to make me a special gift,” she continued. “And also had the kids help with it and put so much thought and effort in it because they see me as family and I should be appreciative of that.”

She told her boyfriend that she was grateful for everything he’s done for her, but she felt like the necklace could have been a “great combo” with the wooden frame. However, he got more upset by this and couldn’t understand why his girlfriend valued a necklace “as much as or even over a special gift he and the kids made for [her].”

“He went upstairs and refused to speak to me,” she wrote. “I feel like he blew this out of proportion since he asked for my opinion and I don’t know if he has the right to be upset with me now.”

This post has over 11,300 upvotes, so far, with Reddit users in the comments noting that the girlfriend was wrong in this situation.

“So you don’t have enough jewellery yet? How many necks do you have?” one person wrote. “Yeah, he has more than a right to be upset with you. Wear an old necklace and appreciate what you have with this man and his kids.”

“Not only is she coming off as a gold digger because she wants yet another piece of jewelry over a heartfelt gift,” another use wrote. “But it sure does give insight into what she will do when her kids bring home the macaroni pictures and the turkey hand prints.”

Many other Reddit users came to the boyfriend’s defence, applauding the time he took to make his girlfriend the frame.

“I’m assuming he made the frame, which takes a lot of time and effort,” a comment reads. “Every minute of the project he would be thinking of you… He is literally presenting you with an image of you as part of his family and [you’re] complaining as it’s not worth a lot.”

On the other hand, some people said that this woman was not the a**hole, highlighting how she gave him her honest opinion and that this frame seemed like a more fitting gift for him than her.

“It seems more like he gave her something that he’d enjoy and she just wanted something she’d enjoy that was just for her, similar to the shoes she got for him,” a person wrote. “NTA [in my opinion].”

“HE asked YOU what you thought,” another comment reads.”Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to. Also, people always think you should just be “ grateful “ for anything.”

The Independent has reached out to @u/throwtri434346 for comment.

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