A woman has been asked if she is applying to be an "evil step mom" for telling her fiancé she was embarrassed when he sang "happy birthday" to his five-year-old son.
A viral Reddit post, titled: " AITA for telling my fiancé that he embarrassed me when he started singing the "happy birthday" song to his 5 year old son at the restaurant?" has been upvoted 6,100 times since it was shared on September 20.
The 30-year-old begins the post by referring to her 36-year-old fiancée as "Ned" and states they have been together for 18 months.
She points out he has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship and she, the mother, is currently sick. Therefore, their son spends most of the week at his dad's home.
She said: "His son is lovely but I noticed that Ned takes him everywhere he goes, including places that aren't child friendly, and we have an issue with that now, but we're working on it.
"His son's fifth birthday was days ago, Ned took us out to a restaurant to celebrate. The place was nice and looked a bit unfitting for the occasion because it was somewhat expensive."
In December 2019, the U.K's biggest hospitality job board revealed that 57 percent of the country's restaurant revenue is made up of families.
The survey conducted by caterer.co.uk revealed that 32 percent of parents struggle to get their children to behave at restaurants. Nevertheless, 53 percent of parents use dining out as a way to reward their kids and 51 percent of parents consider a meal out as an excellent way to spend quality time together.
The original poster added: "We ordered food then got the birthday cake which was a surprise to me because I thought we were going to celebrate at home, so we could be free to sing and play however we wanted.
"I still had no issue with that until Ned started singing the 'happy birthday song' to his son. I was stunned I almost dropped my plate. He was singing it at the top of his lungs not even looking around or paying attention to how many people staring at us awkwardly. I felt so embarrassed I kept whispering for him to stop but he ignored me."
The woman described her stepson as "hyped and a little too active" and explained how she expected the manager or staff to stop him, but they didn't.
She added: "In fact, some woman came up to us and offered that she 'helps him take a video recording.' I wasn't in it at all. I froze in my seat looking stunned and a little angry."
"He looked at me later asking what was wrong. I didn't say anything except 'thanks for finally noticing!' and he didn't understand what I meant and I didn't explain til we were in the car. I flat out told him that he embarrassed me the second he started singing in the restaurant."
The woman explained her fiancée was "shocked" and asked if she was ashamed of him and his son.
She said: "I denied it and said that it just felt awkward and embarrassing to maybe because I've never been in this situation and also judging from the restaurant we were at. He said that his son's mom is sick and he's trying to do all he can to cheer him up and that all families do that, and no one had an issue with that except me then when I tried to explain, he got mad and said he no longer felt like talking.
"We haven't been speaking since then. It appears he's still salty about me saying what I said and insisting that I see him and his son as an embarrassment. AITA? I think he's being too harsh with the ignoring me instead of talking it out."
Other users have flocked to the post and the top comment has received 26,500 upvotes, it said: "He gleefully sang happy birthday to his child, whose mother is sick, while you sat there sulking in your anger.
"Are you applying to be an evil stepmother by any chance? You prioritize not being embarrassed over a fun moment between a father and his son. The restaurant staff didn't think it was inappropriate. It doesn't seem that you are a good match for someone with kids."
Another wrote: "You should not marry someone with a 5 yr old kid that they love. You are going to be absolutely SHOCKED at how often they will embarrass themselves in public to have fun with their kid. I don't think your knickers would survive the trauma."
Newsweek reached out to poster u/ ThrowRaBirthdaysong5 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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Lucy Notarantonio is Newsweek's Senior Lifestyle and Trends Reporter, based in Birmingham, UK. Her focus is trending stories and human ... Read more
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