At a certain point, you should be able to make your own decisions without anyone getting upset.

So, what would you do if you spent years driving all over the state on Christmas to show up for people who rarely show up for you, and the first time you choose to stay home, a family member calls to yell at you for it?

Would you change your mind? Or would you stick to your plan?

In the following story, one brother finds himself in this situation and decides it’s time for a laid-back Christmas.

Here’s his story.

AITAH for wanting to stay home for Christmas?

Every year, my wife and I travel on Christmas to see everyone for the holidays, since we are a bit farther south in the state than everyone else.

When we go and travel to see everyone, we have to make three stops, and each stop is an hour drive in between (seeing different family members), so in total we drive roughly 6 hours on Christmas Day.

This year, we decided to stay home and have a quiet, laid-back Christmas, no traveling, no family drama, just throwing a turkey on the smoker, opening each other’s gifts, and watching Christmas movies.

No one seemed to care at Thanksgiving.

But now here comes my brother, making me feel like a complete jerk for wanting to stay home.

Now, my brother and sister ALWAYS get together and do stuff. Okay, fine, no problem. But they never invite us, and I mean NEVER, for the past 4 years they have ONLY invited me to holiday dinner. The way I look at it, if they don’t want me with them, then fine, we won’t be.

Now back to my main problem. We announced at Thanksgiving that we were having a laid-back Christmas. I’m not sure if my brother had already left or just wasn’t in the room, but he didn’t say anything about it, and nobody really had a problem with it.

Then, his brother called.

That is, until yesterday. He called me up and yelled, “Are you really not coming to Christmas at your sister’s house?!?!”

I said, “Nope, my wife and I want a relaxed Christmas.”

He then proceeded to get even angrier and said, “Christmas is supposed to be spent with family, Christmas is about being with family.”

Here’s where he turned it around on him.

I then explain, “If Christmas is supposed to be with family, then why doesn’t this family include me in any other activities other than holiday dinners and asking me to come over and do electrical work?”

And no, I have never done anything to push my family away.

I used to call them all the time, try to make plans with everyone, and when it wasn’t reciprocated, I stopped.

AITA?

Yikes! His siblings sound like something else.

Let’s check out how the readers over at Reddit feel about this family drama.

Here’s what this person thinks he should say.

According to this comment, he shouldn’t even argue with him.

For this reader, it’s likely to be his best Christmas ever.

This person gets it.

It’s his Christmas, so it’s his choice how to spend it.

Period.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.