Girlfriend getting very upset with me when she's stressed or having a bad day. AITAH?
This is my first really serious relationship (living together, talking about marriage etc..) and I am struggling to understand what's normal and if I'm being overly sensitive or a bad boyfriend here.
I have some backstory at the bottom if you care to know as this sort of thing has happened in the past.
Today:
My girlfriend had to work today and her "fun job" from 11-3. We were both exhausted from a new puppy we got and slept in way later than usual today. I got out of bed at 9am which is unheard of. I came down and she was asleep on the couch (she had taken the puppy out at 6am and stayed downstairs - today was her turn). I knew she had to work at 11. I tried to talk to her when I came downstairs but she seemed very tired and not particularly interested in having a conversation. I had plans to go to the gym but didn't just want to her to wake up and I was gone without saying anything. I checked her phone to make sure she had an alarm set so she didn't sleep through work and I plugged it in for her as the battery was low, then I went upstairs to get ready for the gym.
When I came back down I chatted with her again and asked if she wanted me to make her a coffee before work, she said no (she was half asleep during this interaction). I told her I was planning on going to the gym and asked her when the puppy went in her crate to make sure she wasn't in there too long. She answered but seemed annoyed I was talking to her as she was trying to sleep (she was half asleep during this entire interaction). I did the math and realized the puppy would be fine so I went to the gym while she was asleep on the couch.
30 min later (while I'm working out) I start getting bombarded. She calls me and asks if I can bring her starbucks on my way home, I told her I can only do that if I cut my workout in half and leave right now. She seems irritated and basically hangs up on me. Then she calls me again asking what my plan is for taking the puppy out of the crate, I tell her I did the math and the puppy will be fine. She hangs up again, irritated. Then she texts me that she feels very unloved for my "lack of help and checking in with her this morning". She told me she clearly wasn't feeling good and I didn't even bother to check in and ask her how she's feeling. Obviously I did check in multiple times and she was half asleep, seemed annoyed etc.. but I didn't ever actually ask how she was feeling.
At this point I'm getting pretty upset and just leave the gym early because I can't even focus. I called her on my way home, she didn't answer. When I get home I knocked on the bedroom door where she was getting ready, she didn't answer. Then she came storming down the stairs, clearly running late for work and stressed out. Ran out the front door without saying a word to me and slammed the door behind her - clearly pissed off and in a bad mood. I'm sitting here wondering if this is normal because I felt like I did check in and was trying to be helpful/supportive but she was asleep. I honestly don't know what I was supposed to do differently aside from specifically asking how she was feeling or pushing the gym back an hour to make sure I was there when she woke up? We've had issues like this in the past and it's really making me question if I want to commit to this person for the long haul.
Backstory:
Our relationship is great most of the time but she has had these overly emotional blow ups in the past which makes it a touchy subject for me. She will basically be feeling negative emotions from something going on (often external and nothing to do with me, sometimes indirectly because of me) and she'll take it out on me. She doesn't seem to do this to anyone else except me.
This is probably the most extreme example but late last year she was having a travel day from hell. I was checking in with her all day, talked to her on the phone for 45 min at the airport etc.. I had dinner with a friend who's mom had just passed away (she knew about it). While I was at dinner her flight got delayed again and I sent a shorter text basically saying "at least it's the last flight of the day and once it takes off you'll be with your friends soon!". She responded telling me I was unsupportive, dismissive and even misogynistic because my text "downplayed her feelings". Keep in mind I had literally been in touch with her all day about this. This was extreme, but some version of this happened 6-8 times last year. We almost broke up over the bad travel day incident. I believe it may have something to do with severe PMS or PMDD. She's been better since we almost broke up until today but it's also only been a few months. I'm struggling with the idea of committing to her but I also don't know how much of this is normal or I'm somehow contributing to this and just don't understand women/relationships well enough.
AITAH?
Posted Mar 8, 2026, 6:05 PM UTC