WIBTA to say no to sharing family Christmas
I (F42) and my sister (F39) are the only two children of our mother. Our father died 7 years ago. My sister (let’s call her Mary) has two sons and a husband. I have one son and am divorced. Mary offered to host Christmas this year and that was fine until today when she said she plans to invite 3 (male) “orphans” from her workplace to join us. I don’t want this to happen because:
- We are only 5 adults (me, Mary, her husband, our mother and our elderly uncle) and 3 kids. Adding 3 strangers to an already very small family group will tip the balance and make it an awkward day.
- My son (10) has autism and will really struggle to understand and cope with 3 random male strangers at our Christmas celebration.
- I always strive to have family traditions (which admittedly are hard to keep up in such a small family), but adding 3 (to us) random strangers will really affect the dynamics. I also think the 3 workmates probably wouldn’t want to come if they understood how intimate our family group is. They aren’t really orphans after all (they could do something the 3 of them and almost be the same sized group as us!). My sister has always wanted to invite “orphans” and when it was just one genuine, hard done by loner, I welcomed them too. But 3 workmates when we are only 5 adults in the first place is too much. AITAH to kick up a fuss and say no?
Posted Dec 9, 2025, 8:46 AM UTC
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