Blended families can get complicated when exes, new spouses, and kids are all in the picture.

This dad just wanted to keep things smooth for his daughter’s big college move-in day, but his wife’s reaction showed just how messy things could get when no one was on the same page.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for not inviting my wife to my daughter’s (her step-daughter’s) freshman college move in?

My ex-wife (51F) and I (50M) were married 18 years, right out of college.

We had a good, functional, and loving marriage, but in the end, she decided it wasn’t for her and we amicably divorced.

We had 2 kids, 18F and 19M.

6 months later I met my current wife (47F) and her son (19M). We’ve now been married 8 years.

The new relationship got off to a great start and it seemed like everyone was blending well together.

My ex and I have a great co-parenting relationship and are friends.

We only talk about kid-related things, except at kid-related events where we make small talk.

We don’t communicate much outside of that.

My current wife and ex were pleasant and professional for awhile.

But then things got dramatic.

Several years ago, I was venting about my ex traveling a lot for work and having to pick up extra slack a little.

Mind you, this was just venting, and I honestly love any extra time I get with the kids.

Well, my current wife decided to text my ex-wife, basically calling her out as a bad mom and telling her to pick up the slack.

I didn’t really feel that way and felt it was out of place for her to do that.

Since then, the “relationship” between current and ex-wife has not been good and basically irreparable. They’re professional, but my current wife hates my ex, with very little cause in my book.

We had to sit separately for my son’s graduation 2 years ago, but sat together this year for my daughter’s graduation.

So when it came to the next big life event, this dad just wanted to keep things simple.

When it came time to move my daughter into college, I did not want that tension to “ruin” my daughter’s bonding moment with her mom.

College move-in day can be very emotional.

I asked my daughter about my wife coming to move in, and she said, “It might be too many people.”

Granted, I admit that the way I asked the question was a little leading, but the tension between my ex and current wife is well known in the family.

My wife wasn’t invited to move in, and my ex and I moved my daughter in…separate cars, and only for a few hours.

We did the same thing for our son last year…my wife didn’t go because she was working.

But this really upset his new wife.

My current wife was livid, and weeks later it’s still a sore spot and led to another blowup last night, somewhat related to this.

I admitted to my wife that it was a mistake and apologized.

AITA for not having my wife move my daughter into college with her mom and I?

He daughter asked for simplicity on her big day, and he delivered that.

What did Reddit have to say?

It’s valid that his wife would have hurt feelings, but he was only trying to do right by his daughter.

This commenter is on his daughter’s side.

He made the right choice for several reasons.

His wife probably had unreasonable expectations from the start.

He did his best to keep the peace and put his daughter first.

Whether or not his wife accepts his decision is out of his hands.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.