June 15, 2026 at 7:35 pm

Young Woman Looks for Way to Skip Family Trip, Considers Working Christmas Shift Instead

by Heather Hall

Young woman thinking about a family gathering

Pexels

It can be incredibly difficult to celebrate someone else’s good news when it reminds you of one of the hardest experiences of your own life.

This young woman found herself in that position after her family announced plans to spend Christmas with her pregnant cousin.

Ordinarily, she would’ve looked forward to the annual family gathering.

Unfortunately, her cousin’s pregnancy comes with a lot of complicated emotions after the young woman placed her own child up for adoption earlier this year.

Now she’s wondering if she’d be better off picking up a shift at work than spending Christmas pretending everything is fine.

Read on to see where she’s at with this whole thing.

WIBTA if I told my manager to put me on the schedule for Christmas so I don’t have to go on the Christmas trip this year because of my pregnant cousin?

I(20f) am wondering if I would be wrong for having my manager schedule me for Christmas instead of going on the family trip because it will mostly be about my cousin’s pregnancy.

Every year, my family celebrates together or goes on a big trip.

This year, they want to go up to another state to be with my cousin who is pregnant and unable to travel.

Unfortunately, being pregnant is a sore subject for her.

My cousin and I have never gotten along because I was adopted and she always wanted the spotlight.

This past year, I had had a child under circumstances that I won’t go into and had to put my child up for adoption.

In June, my cousin announced at a family event that she was pregnant.

Now, she’s looking for a way out.

Since I arrived late, she told me separately and laughed and smirked at me while telling me.

I know this trip will be mainly about setting up her nursery and hanging out with her and doting on her because she is having the first child in the family that they get to “keep.”

I feel like I would be rude to skip out purely because of the reason she’s pregnant. But at the same time, I know it’ll upset me a lot to go and she will rub it in my face.

AITA?

Eek! It’s easy to see why she’d rather skip the event.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who doesn’t want to go to the amusement park with her friend anymore, because the friend can no longer ride most of the attractions.

Let’s check out what advice the readers over at Reddit have to offer.

Yes, it should!

Cousin 3 Young Woman Looks for Way to Skip Family Trip, Considers Working Christmas Shift Instead

For this reader, it’s common to skip family events at her age.

Cousin 2 Young Woman Looks for Way to Skip Family Trip, Considers Working Christmas Shift Instead

A selfless act indeed.

Cousin 1 Young Woman Looks for Way to Skip Family Trip, Considers Working Christmas Shift Instead

This reader gets it!

Cousin Young Woman Looks for Way to Skip Family Trip, Considers Working Christmas Shift Instead

Her family seems incredibly insensitive here.

Giving up a child for adoption is one of the hardest things a person can go through, and it hasn’t even been a year.

Now they expect her to spend Christmas watching everyone celebrate a pregnancy while acting like that won’t affect her at all.

That’s a lot to ask of anyone.

If she decides to skip the trip, it’s hard to blame her. Protecting your own peace can be healthier than forcing yourself through a situation you already know is going to hurt.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a young woman who struggles with her new reality after learning her adoption story was a lie.

Heather Hall | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Heather Hall is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter specializing in internet culture, workplace conflict, and viral customer service stories. With over a decade of editorial experience in digital publishing, Heather excels at curating trending online discussions and providing insightful commentary on the daily dramas that capture the internet's attention.

Since beginning her career in 2011, she has developed deep expertise in SEO-driven digital content, having written for a wide array of publications covering lifestyle, business, and travel. At TwistedSifter, Heather focuses on synthesizing complex social media threads into engaging, highly readable narratives that highlight the human element of viral news.

When she isn’t analyzing the latest internet discourse, Heather is a dedicated mother of three sons who takes family gaming nights entirely too seriously—whether she is dominating in Mario Kart, exploring The Legend of Zelda, or jumping into Roblox.

Connect with Heather on Facebook and LinkedIn.