Family roles can get complicated, especially with big age gaps.

Would you give a Father’s Day present to your mom’s new husband even if he was closer to your age than her age and you had more of a friendship than a father child bond?

This woman and her husband have been polite to his mother’s much younger husband, but they don’t want to get him a Father’s Day present.

Should they get one anyway?

Read the story below to find out more.

AITAH for not wanting to get my MIL’s husband (who’s barely older than my husband) a Father’s Day gift?

My MIL married a man who is just 4 years older than my husband.

This was shortly after my husband graduated college.

My husband and I married a few years afterwards and took care of his biological father who was in his seventies.

He passed away of cancer.

This woman and her husband think the “stepdad” is fine despite his age.

While we were glad she found someone new, let’s just say it was… surprising.

My husband is now in his mid-30s, and his “stepdad” is close enough in age to have been his college roommate, not his father.

We’re polite and get along with her husband. He’s fine.

But they don’t see him as a father figure.

But he didn’t raise my husband. He doesn’t have a fatherly relationship with him.

And honestly, he feels more like a peer than a parent figure.

That said, he does interact with our two young kids (ages 4 and 6) and plays a “stepgrandpa” role with them, which we appreciate (he does not want children of his own and MIL is mid sixties).

Her mother-in-law is pushing them to get him a Father’s Day gift.

Now, MIL is pressing us to get her husband a Father’s Day gift, and I’m feeling torn.

I wouldn’t mind having the kids give him a small card or a craft, something that reflects the role he plays in their lives.

But getting him a gift from us feels forced and awkward.

But her husband doesn’t feel comfortable doing this.

My husband doesn’t consider him a father figure and doesn’t feel comfortable giving a Father’s Day gift to a man who showed up after he was grown.

She is very pushy and brought this up when I mentioned the gift we got my own father.

She said, “I hope you don’t forget about X.”

Now, they’re torn because they feel awkward considering him as a father.

I get that MIL wants him to feel included, but it just doesn’t feel authentic to treat him like my husband’s dad.

AITA for not wanting to get a gift for my husband’s “stepdad” who’s basically his age?

Let’s find out how others reacted to this story on Reddit.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

This person gives their honest opinion.

He isn’t owed anything, says this person.

A “bonus grandma” speaks up about the matter.

Finally, short and simple.

You can’t always force a relationship with anyone.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.