AITA for telling my BF he can't plan a date?

This happened right before Valentines day, but it bothers me a lot. A part of me feels bad, like I said something wrong.
Both me and my bf of 3 years have been having a very busy New Year, so Valentines was the last thing on both of our minds. It occurred to me that it was 2 weeks till Valentines, and we hadn't even talked about it. When I brought it up he asked what I would like to do.
Almost all of our dates have been a mutually planned thing. Just a series of

A: "Hey I heard of this new restaurant, wanna go?"
B: "Oh sure! I also wanted to see this movie, wanna go after that?"
A: "Let's do it!"

However, when my BF asked me what I wanted to do, I was so tired that the only thing I wanted to do was sleep for 12 hours.

I asked him, "I'm just SO exhausted, can you plan it?"

He wanted a general idea on what I was feeling. Food? Outdoors? Movie? We ended up mutually deciding on a popular shopping district in our city. We were regulars there, but recently they started changing a lot of shops and restaurants. I wanted to eat, didn't know where, I was leaving that up to him.

The problems started arising when he made it clear that he wanted to go ON the 14th. Valentines landed on a Saturday. A Saturday. I told him it was crazy to be going out to such a popular district on Saturday, Valentines Day. He made a big deal about it, and that I was being silly to refuse. I refuted by saying he had never had a problem celebrating holidays/anniversaries off day to avoid crowds before. But he was so stuck on it having to be on the day, but it had to be lunch.

I told him after that the rest was up to him. Jump forward a to 5-7 days before Valentines and I excitedly ask him what we're gonna do. He gives me a funny look and just says,

"Don't you remember? We're going to 'shopping district' and going out to eat."

I sorta just stared at him thinking it was a joke, before being met with his dead serious stare. I just start laughing. In that moment I just thought it was hilarious, he didn't think so. I told him that he didn't add anything to what we agreed upon, did he even know where we were gonna eat? Did he make a reservation? What were we wearing? What time do we leave? Especially since he wanted to go on the 14th. He claimed he didn't have a place in mind because I'm picky. Then bring options for me? Research the new places? We've been together 3 years, you know what I like and don't.

I ended up deciding on a place based on a recommendation, but I went the extra mile to find something that worked for both of us, without asking him. When he didn't recognize the place, I explained how I looked over the menu beforehand to make sure it was friendly to him. He even said, "I didn't even have to ask, you're the best!" He didn't do anything! I worked out the time, reservation, everything! I told him after that it was fine that he couldn't plan a date, but don't tell me you planned, when you didn't. He told me my outburst hurt his feelings, and that he still thinks what he did was a plan, but he was waiting for my input. I do feel bad about how I laughed in his face, but I feel like my principle was right? AITA?

Posted Mar 14, 2026, 6:15 AM UTC

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