Enabling Wife Defends Her Husband From Her Family After He Made An Offensive Adoption Joke That Ruined Their New Year's Eve Dinner

“He 100% means no harm and he was just trying to get them to react.”

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• January 13, 2023

As they say, kids are blessings, but sometimes those blessings don’t come in the way you expected them to. Others receive them easily, and others try for a long time before getting what they want.

So when parents who have a hard time having kids finally get what they wish for, they do what they can to protect them. Unfortunately, there are times when they have to draw lines from their own family.

In a r/AITA post, OP told Redditors that her husband, ‘Mike’, liked joking around with her brother. She usually doesn’t stop him, but her brother, ‘Ethan,’ started to complain that his jokes crossed the lines. 

It was because his jokes usually involved the topic of Ethan and his wife’s adopted child, ‘Joey’. It was a touchy subject for the couple since they had a hard time having kids, but when OP talked to her husband about it, he brushed it off as something he just does to get a reaction out of them. 

At their family’s Ney Year’s celebratory dinner, Mike made a knock-knock joke with everyone listening. When Ethan asked who was there, Mike answered, “Joey’s bio parents,” and that’s when the chaos ensued.

Ethan and the rest of their family didn’t find the joke funny at all, and an argument broke out between him and Mike. In the end, OP’s parents got involved and eventually kicked Mike out, and her mom explained in a phone call how badly her husband behaved.

OP's wondering if she's TA in this situation

OP's husband is described as quite the joker which her brother did not appreciated

This is where Mike gets his topic of joke

During their New Year's Eve dinner, Mike made a joke

OP's parents pushed for her husband to leave and explained to her why

It might be a joke for him but in their eyes it’s an excuse to hurt others

Having a different sense of humor is different from making mean comments that are borderline bullying

A lot of people in the comments agree that OP’s parents did the right thing by kicking Mike out

If it were up to others, it would have been both at them because OP didn’t see the wrong in her husband’s actions

OP’s parents requested for him to stop but it fell on deaf ears

Joey might have also been there which didn’t make things any better

OP’s parents drawing the lines now would be a big way to protect Joey who would be immensely hurt by the jokes if he understood them

Mike’s running joke has been running for two years

At this point, he’s the only one not tired of it

Mike doesn’t seem to understand this formula of when a joke turns into bullying

From someone who has a dry sense of humor, reading the room first is essential if your ‘jokes’ are different

OP's mom and dad swooped in to protect their kid and their grandkid

OP was voted TA in the end by most of the Redditors. The verdict was the same for the husband, even if he wasn’t the one in question.

A big part was because of the way she enabled her husband’s bad behavior. Those who voted also disclosed that their parents were right in their decision to make him leave the dinner.

Chelsi