A man posting on Reddit says he “refuses” to go on a ski trip with his girlfriend’s sister and her newborn child, writing that the addition of a baby will increase both the stress and expense of the trip.
In the anonymous post, the man writes that he and his girlfriend have been going on vacation every year for the past four to five years with her older sister and boyfriend.
“We’ll either go on a ski vacation, go to a national park we haven’t seen yet, or just go hiking/camping in the Rockies,” he writes. “We can make this trip really affordable by only spending money on things that are important to us and we have similar tastes in what we like to do. I cherish this annual trip and the memories we made.”
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However, about a week ago he learned that his girlfriend’s sister is pregnant, but still wants to participate in the annual trip, flights, skiing and all.
The friend’s sister has now narrowed it down to “Colorado in September or in January for skiing. And show me MUCH more expensive accommodations/rental cars/flights etc for traveling with a baby.”
He continues: “The baby is due in July, so I quickly started thinking up numbers in my head that would make the little guy 2 to 5 months old. I suggested we see if we could go somewhere much closer, like a state park or somewhere in the Smokeys. We have a small camper, [we could all] just take a three-day weekend trip to test the waters of vacationing with a baby.”
He adds, “I immediately got the speech ‘I’m going to be a strong mother and having a baby isn’t going to stop me from doing things.’ ”
Later, the man and his girlfriend discussed the idea further, with the man saying that he “doesn’t want to fly halfway across the country with a newborn, pay a lot more for the trip, be able to do a lot less/enjoy it a lot less, my vacation time, just being super stressed and that her sister/boyfriend couldn’t afford this trip without us paying half,” he wrote.
The man adds that he believes the expectant parents are showing “selfishness/irresponsibility” by forcing a newborn to fly and endure walks and cold temperatures.
Although the man’s girlfriend agrees, she also wants to go on the group trip.
“This trip is just a LOT of both financial and mental stress. I’ve been getting the cold shoulder for a few days now and am now starting to wonder if this is a family obligation or to feed her sister’s ego?” the man writes.
Commentators say the expectant mother appears to be ‘delusional’, suggesting she took a ski trip so far before the birth, with one writing that it ‘may be an indication that she is still in denial about what pregnancy, birth and motherhood will mean . Both of their lives will inevitably change dramatically in ways they cannot know until the time comes – this seems a blatant denial of this enormous upcoming adjustment and the sacrifices required when starting a family.”
Adds another: “I’m just over six weeks postpartum with my first baby and she’s definitely an ‘easy’ baby. But there’s no way in the world I would fly across country for a ski trip with her in in the coming months… I think she’s being a bit unrealistic.”
