A mother has been left devastated after she missed out on a precious moment with her toddler, as her husband opened presents from Santa without her
Isobel Pankhurst Audience Writer and Lucia Botfield
11:46, 24 Dec 2025
Christmas with loved ones is something to cherish, particularly when little ones are involved. The enchantment of Christmas becomes even more special with youngsters eagerly awaiting Father Christmas's arrival.
Naturally, one mum was heartbroken after missing out on this treasured experience with her toddler this year. She revealed how her husband had excluded her from the festivities with their young son, seemingly oblivious to the problem.
Posting on Reddit, the 35-year-old, who has been married for four years, explained she has two boys with her husband, aged three months and two years old.
She described her anticipation ahead of the big day, as this marked the first time her toddler truly grasped Christmas – whether that meant Santa, wrapping presents for relatives together, or trimming the tree.
"My husband has been talking a lot about building family traditions for the kids, which I thought was lovely. My family has a German background, so we opened the gifts from family on Christmas Eve together with my parents and brother.
"I had a rough night with the baby, so I slept a little longer than usual this (Christmas) morning, but not unreasonable I thought - I woke at 7.45. The toddler had woken up at 6am and my husband had gotten up [with] him.
"I got up to discover that my husband had opened up the presents from Santa already, which has left me devastated. I felt so excluded and robbed of seeing the joy on my child's face opening up the gifts I had picked out for him."
She went on to explain that what really hurt was that her husband hadn't bothered to wait for her to wake up naturally, or even roused her himself. "My husband commented that it was a lovely father son moment, which drove the knife in further."
She said it left her feeling like an "afterthought" in her husband's mind when it comes to their family. "I've been holding back tears all day for the sake of the toddler."
Fellow social media users rushed to offer support to the poster, with one person writing: "I couldn't look at my husband the same way after that. Christmas morning excitement is the payoff we get for all the day-to-day thankless work of parenting and all magic we put into the holidays. I can't imagine ever hating my husband enough to deny him that".
Another declared they would "file for divorce on December 26", whilst others branded him a "narcissist", or "selfish". One mum sympathised: "These moments are precious and the opportunities for them are gone very quickly."
Yet not everyone sided with the distressed mother. Some commenters suggested her reaction might be down to postnatal depression, whilst others said they "feel sorry for the husband", arguing that "he probably thought he was doing a good thing, giving his wife a lie in".