A "house divided" often happens when marriage binds fans from opposing teams. The banter, the ribbing, and the gloating is part of the fun for diehard sports fans. But for one dad with a newborn, his FIL (who hails from a rival college team) crossed the line when he bought his baby boy an offensive onesie & now he doesn't know what to do.
"This will probably seem like a petty issue to most people," he began. "Even I admit it's kind of stupid, but it matters to me all the same."
"My father in law and I attended colleges that are rivals with each other," he went on. "It's a big rivalry that most fans, including us, probably take too serious. If I cared less about it none of this would be a big deal, but I do care and so does he."
The new dad says they tease each other regularly about it, and once a while they can take it too far.
"He sent us a onesie for his school and sold my wife a sob story about how he always had a dream of getting to see his first grandchild in a onesie like this," he said. "My wife of course bought all of it and doesn't realize that his real intent here is to embarrass me and openly mock me."
He worries that if he allows his wife to take a photo of their child wearing the onesie, he will never, ever hear the end of it.
"I told her that I couldn't allow her to do it because her father would never let me live this down," he wrote. "She told me I need to grow up and stop taking this so seriously, but she's not the one that has to deal with it. Besides that he's our son and not her father's. He's not entitled to a photo."
Now the dad wants to know if he is wrong for setting a hard no on this.
People were floored at how childishly this dad was acting.
One person chided him, writing "it's not that deep. Just buy a second onesie with your school's logo on it. This is coming from a twin whose sibling goes to my school's rival school. We both just buy our parents different merch from each student store and call it good ribbing."
Others thought this was a missed opportunity for some bonding.
"My mom and partner bonded over baseball," shared one user. "She buys him stuff from her team, and vice versa. One time he trolled her by buying me a jersey for his team to wear on the plane home where she would pick me up from the airport — she pretended to tell me I couldn't get in the car like that, gave me a hug, and we had a giggle."
The person added, "She now buys our kid stuff from both teams. It really can all be in good fun! If you LET IT BE FUN…take a picture of your kid in your school's jersey, and get a double-photo frame for both pics to go into, give it to FIL with a white flag for the next gifting holiday."
A few others just ... didn't have time for these shenanigans.
"It's a baby onesie," someone laid out for him. "If you care that much buy one for your school and post the pictures side by side, but I think you're taking this way too personally. It is his alma mater, I'd buy my kid a onesie from my school even if my partner went to a rival school."
In the year 2020, are there not bigger fish to fry, people?
