My husband's 'fun parent' act just created a huge, unbudgeted problem.
By @codyagain · Family
He unilaterally decided to promise our 11-year-old son an expensive sleep-away camp for a week. Now I'm the one who either has to magically find the money or be the bad guy who says no.
The full story
Summer vacation has turned my husband into a full-time 'Fun Dad,' and it's driving me crazy. My role, apparently, is the 'Logistics and Consequences Manager.' I set a screen time limit, he comes home and says 'ah, just one more hour.' I say we need to do summer reading before going to the pool, he starts a water balloon fight in the yard. I'm always the one enforcing the rules. This weekend it finally blew up. He came home and announced that he signed our son (who of course thinks this is the greatest idea ever) up for a week-long 'adventure camp' in the mountains. It sounds amazing. It also costs $1,500 that we do not have in the budget. He didn't ask me, didn't check the finances, just did it because his friend's kid is going and he didn't want our son to feel left out. When I confronted him, he told me I was overreacting about the money and that we'd 'make it work.' What that really means is *I* have to find a way to make it work, probably by pulling from the money we had set aside for the new tires our car desperately needs. I feel so disrespected. I told him this wasn't a team move, and now he's angry at me for 'not supporting him' and for being the 'family killjoy.' I'm so tired of this dynamic.
How people voted
- Side A — 34% (53 votes)
- Both — 38% (60 votes)
- Side B — 28% (44 votes)
Readers are split: “Both” leads with 38% — 157 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@alsofine — A man's promise to his son is a promise that should be kept.
@tessish — Something tells me we're only hearing the 'Logistics and Consequences Manager' side of the story.
@maxx — nah let fun dad cook
@karayy — Why couldn't he just talk to you before promising it to your kid?
@alyssamaybe — yikes
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