In a perfect world, people would treat each other with respect and refrain from making unnecessary comments. But unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world.

Needless to say, lack of respect doesn’t really make anyone’s relationship any better. Take this redditor’s story, for instance; after learning about the disrespectful comments his brother’s girlfriend made towards his wife, the OP saw no other choice but to refuse to invite said girlfriend to his home for Thanksgiving. That didn’t exactly make the brothers’ relationship any better, and to make matters worse, got the parents involved, too.

Thanksgiving is a great time to get the family together

Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual image)

This man refused to let his brother bring his girlfriend to Thanksgiving after she disrespected his wife

Image credits: freepik (not the actual image)

Image credits: Socallivin1993

Most people say that spending time with family is important to them

Nowadays, it’s not always easy to visit family even if we want to; busy lifestyles, scheduling conflicts, and, in some cases, distance might make get-togethers rather scarce. However, that doesn’t diminish the importance of family time in people’s lives.

According to a survey carried out by Pew Research Center, the majority of Americans (73%) consider spending time with those of their kin important to them, regardless of how much of it they actually spend together.

Whether or not people visit family often on the day-to-day, many do during all sorts of holidays and celebrations, such as Thanksgiving. It’s safe to assume that the OP is far from the only one gathering his family in his home to commemorate the celebration. According to Statista’s data, last year, as much as 83% of Americans were planning to celebrate Thanksgiving, mostly doing that in their own or their relatives’ homes.

While the holidays people celebrate differ with each family, there seem to be quite a few occasions to get together during the year. Statista revealed that while Thanksgiving is the most popular of all the national and religious events in the United States, it is far from the only one, as Memorial Day, Christmas, Veterans’ Day, and Mother’s Day are nearly equally as popular (according to data from the second quarter of 2023). Father’s Day, Easter, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Labor Day, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve line up next on the list respectively.

Image credits: Getty Images (not the actual images)

Coupled-up individuals tend to include their partners in family time, too

For those who are coupled up, the holidays tend to be not only a time to get together with family, but to introduce their partner to the clan, too. Discussing the dos and don’ts of doing that for the very first time during the holidays, relationship expert Dr. Stan Tatkin suggested that it’s important to talk to your partner beforehand about how you both can look out for each other during family time.

“When the other person has a home field advantage, it’s important that people talk about how they’re going to protect each other, particularly the person who doesn’t know anyone,” Dr. Tatkin said in an interview with Insider, emphasizing that that’s the idea of being a couple. “They protect each other. They have each other’s backs, even with people that are familiar.”

When the OP’s brother introduced his girlfriend, Lindsay, to the family, it wasn’t her that needed protecting, though. It was the redditor’s wife, who became the target of some uncalled for comments, mostly focused on the topic of children.

Once they reach a certain age, many women—and arguably less frequently, men, too—tend to be bombarded with questions about children, be it from family members, friends, or acquaintances, even. The situation often becomes even more dire after the couple exchanges vows. A journalist and an author, Anna Goldfarb, summed up such situations perfectly, saying: “Nothing could have prepared me for the invasiveness I face about my fertility plans as a married woman in my late 30s.”

Even if the curious friend or family member is only wishing well when asking about people’s plans to expand the family, such questions can get tiresome at best, and even hurtful. When they are presented as somewhat mean comments, like they were in the OP’s wife’s case, they are not welcome either. But neither was the woman responsible for the comments, as the OP told his brother that his girlfriend was no longer invited to spend Thanksgiving with their family.

Image credits: freestocks (not the actual image)

Fellow netizens didn’t think the OP was a jerk for not allowing his brother to bring Lindsay to Thanksgiving

Some people, however, deemed the man a jerk

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