Getting a cranky toddler to sleep is not for the faint of heart.

This dad was getting frustrated that his 2-year-old daughter couldn’t sleep because of his wife’s family chatting outside the bedroom. So he made rude remarks that abruptly made them leave… on his wife’s birthday.

Was he too harsh? Read below for the full story.

AITA for telling my wife’s family to leave on her birthday?

My wife is six months pregnant. She is very fond of her family, and we spend a lot of time with them. Today was her birthday. It started at 4:30 a.m., when our two-year-old daughter woke up and had a fit.

I tried to go sleep with her on the sofa, so my wife could sleep in, but she wanted to sleep in our bed.

My daughter struggled to sleep at nap time in daycare. My SIL works at the daycare and called at 2:00 p.m. to offer to spend her office time with my daughter so she could sleep for 45 minutes, which was very nice of her.

My wife picked her up from daycare at 4:00 p.m., and I came home at 4:30 p.m. with a takeout pizza and gifts for my wife. My daughter was a bit grumpy but managed alright. At 5:00 p.m., my SIL called my wife and asked if she and her daughter could come for a short visit.

It was nice to have a visit. Our daughter and niece played together and had a lot of fun. At 6:00 p.m., my SIL started telling her child they were leaving soon. By 7:00 p.m., my MIL also came by for a short visit. SIL and niece still hadn’t left.

Ten minutes later, our daughter couldn’t take it anymore. She was tired and sleepy and had a complete meltdown. I took her to bed and tried to calm her down, but I didn’t manage to do it.

This man rudely asked his wife’s family to leave on her birthday.

I tried for 10 minutes, and she was screaming the whole time. They were sitting in the living room just outside her bedroom (small apartment), chatting as if nothing had happened.

At 7:20 p.m., I exited my daughter’s room and, with all the calmness I could muster, said, “Can we call it a day?” My wife came into the bedroom to help our daughter.

At this point, I was livid at her family for not leaving and made quite a few aggressive silent gestures in their direction (they couldn’t see me, but my wife could), mouthing, “Why can’t they just leave?”

My wife told me to calm down, which they might have heard. They apparently got the hint and left pretty quickly after that.

Now, this is obviously not how I wanted my wife’s birthday to go, but what’s done is done. My wife cried a lot when they left and made it perfectly clear that I ruined her birthday by overreacting.

I think her family ruined it by overstaying their welcome, and I said as much. She went into her room and fell asleep, and I’m currently sitting in the living room writing this. So, AITA?

Nothing like an adult tantrum to ruin your wife’s birthday.

The comments section is buzzing with opinions.

Here’s an idea.

Some fair points from this user.

Here are more valid arguments.

Another person chimes in.

And lastly, people are calling him out.

This dad just threw a bigger tantrum than his toddler.

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