Mom reveals her ex-husband waited until Christmas Eve to inform her he wouldn’t be giving their kids presents

A mother has revealed that her ex-husband had decided to stop celebrating Christmas with their children and she only told them the day before.

The unnamed woman took to Reddit to detail the situation, explaining that she and her ex-husband had gotten into a heated debate after he refused to do anything during the holidays.

In a thread titled, Parentingthe mother noted that she and her husband had been divorced for a few years and eliminated who had the children for the holidays each year.

She explained that this year it was her husband’s turn to arrange the holiday, which also included donating money for children’s presents.

But on Christmas Eve, she was astonished to discover that her husband didn’t even have a tree in the house.

When she called her ex-husband, he revealed that he had made the decision to no longer participate in Christmas.

The mother shared her frustrations online as she explained that after a series of hardships over the past year, she would not be able to give her children the Christmas they deserved, especially on such short notice.

“The child’s father waited until this morning to tell me he ‘doesn’t celebrate Christmas,'” she captioned the post.

The mother wrote: ‘My children’s father and I have been divorced for a few years.

“Usually we swap on holidays and the person who has the kids does the big things and the other person does what he or she feels and celebrates before the kids leave or after they come back.

“This year was his year to get the kids. I lost my job at the end of October due to layoffs and it was a bit tough.

‘He has no child benefits and I am barely managing in my household. I can’t lie like I wasn’t relieved that it was his year to celebrate Christmas because I had no idea how I was going to afford it.”

She explained that she was grateful that it was her husband’s turn to have the children during the holidays because she couldn’t afford to give them anything as a gift.

However, her relief turned to frustration when she discovered that her ex-lover had decided to be a Grinch this year.

‘The children went to his house yesterday. “I was shocked when my daughter told me last night that there was no tree during our phone conversation,” she continued.

“This played a role in my conversation with him when I asked what’s going on with no tree for the kids.

‘To my horror, he replied that he had decided they were not going to celebrate Christmas anymore. Like what?

“This isn’t something that just happens to someone. If he had told me this last month or even a few weeks ago, I could have made something work.

“An angel tree or toy drive, whatever I had to do to make sure my kids felt the holiday spirit.”

The mother said she felt terrible knowing her children wouldn’t get any presents this year.

She explained that she had been “frantically” trying to find a solution to her problem, and confessed that she felt like she had “abandoned” her children.

The mother added: “I didn’t sleep last night. I’ve been frantically trying to figure something out, but I’m out of touch with my family and live three states away from them anyway, so I don’t really have a support system.

“His family all live here and were supportive, so I stayed around because they know this.

‘I tried to call his parents but they didn’t call back. I’m sure he informed them of my feelings.

“I’m on unemployment benefits and have $45 to my name until next week that I plan to use for groceries. I feel like a total failure.

‘I’m so upset and angry with my children. How does an adult justify this!!? He acts like it’s no big deal and it’s kids who won’t remember this.

“He always uses that excuse like they’re incompetent or something. They are five and seven and know very well what is going on and what the heck Christmas is as they celebrate it every year.”

People on the internet flooded the comments section expressing their shock at the situation.

One person said: ‘I’m sorry this happened to you, and at such a terrible time. Don’t try to fix it while they are with their father. You can’t cover him.’

Another user added: ‘Don’t solve his problems. Children will be disappointed and rightly remember this about him. Also apply for a formal order for alimony.’

Someone else wrote: ‘Can you give them some kind of experience instead of gifts? A Christmas walk or a road trip to discover something interesting? Those kinds of things tend to be more memorable than presents.”

‘Nothing. You don’t do anything. This is not your problem to deal with. When your kids come home, have the planned party,” someone else commented.