Ex Is Furious Dad Gives ‘Special’ Graduation Gift to Daughter From Her Late Grandma

Blended families post-divorce can get complicated, but there is often an obvious set of expectations for everyone involved. What overly complicates these situations is one party being on a totally different page from everyone else.

That's why one dad who shares a daughter with his ex-wife is particularly flummoxed. After losing his mother, the dad arranged for their daughter to receive a special gift from the grandmother at graduation — but his ex is royally upset that he didn't include her stepdaughter.

The dad began by explaining on Reddit that his 17-year-old daughter graduated high school in June.

"My mom passed away in December from cancer," he shared. "Before she died we decided as a surprise for my daughter’s upcoming graduation, my mom would do a voice recording on one of those teddy bears."

Knowing his mother wouldn't make it to then, he saved the gift for her to open when the time arrived.

"Right after her graduation I had some work to do out of state and only got back a few weeks ago," he clarified. "I finally had the chance to give Erica the bear and she absolutely loved it. She cried and said it was the best gift ever."

Thinking nothing more of it, he dropped his daughter off at her mother and her stepfather's house — but moments later he got an angry call from his ex.

"She said Erica showed it to them (ex, her husband, and stepsister) and now her stepsister is upset and won’t come out of her room," he wrote. "I wondered what the hell that had to do with me and my ex told me Erica’s stepsister was hurt that my mom didn’t make her one too since they both graduated HS this year."

The dad was at a loss and wondered how she could ever expect such a personal gift from someone she hardly knows.

"She only started seeing my mom 2 years ago," he wrote. "That was when my ex started making Erica bring her stepsister along when she’d stay at my mom’s for a couple weeks during the summer and also during spring break. But that was it. My mom wanted to be nice and allowed the girl to stay with them even though that time was supposed to be for her and my daughter only, but I was never under the assumption that they were close."

He also noted that his own mother never even mentioned the stepsister when the idea of the bear came up.

"Now my ex is mad at me for not thinking about her stepdaughter, Erica is starting to feel guilty about her gift, and she tells me her stepsister is giving her the cold shoulder," he concluded. "I honestly don’t understand where the anger is coming from. Or why my ex is calling me names and trying to make me feel like the bad guy here. This was supposed to be the last gift my daughter receives from her late grandmother whom she was very close to and now it’s starting to seem like something insensitive that was done to her stepsister. It’s very confusing and I don’t know what made this all go wrong."

Reddit was just as confused as the dad, for the most part.

"The entitlement of some people astounds me, it truly does," wrote one Redditor. "It was not her biological grandmother so I also don’t understand her issues. I believe that she is the golden child in that house and expects to have everything your daughter has. I would actually ask your daughter if she feels like she is being treated fairly compared to her step-sister. I’m actually angry at your ex-wife, her new husband and the step-sister for ruining a very special gift for your daughter."

Others noted that while he isn't wrong for not setting up a gift and the ex-wife is handling it wrong, that doesn't mean the stepdaughter didn't mourn the grandmom, too.

"Perhaps consider the relationship the stepsister had with your Mom may have meant more to her than you realise, she sounds like she was a lovely woman and step-sister did stay at her house," wrote another. "Maybe gift her a framed photo or something? I do think it’s been blown out of proportion by ex wife, but you don’t really ever know the depth of other people’s feelings or get to decide that based on your own experiences. I’m very sorry for your loss and it was a lovely gift, it will not be lessened by a further gift to step-sister and will probably make your daughter more comfortable at her mom's."

Whether or not he's responsible for making the step-daughter feel better, the truth is his daughter doesn't deserve to feel guilty over a sweet gift.

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