Woman fumes after husband sings 'happy birthday' to their son in public

Blaring 'Happy Birthday' in a public setting can be somewhat unsettling, especially for the person receiving the attention. But one woman seemingly got the ick and went as far as to say she was "embarrassed" when her fiance sang for his five-year-old son.

The 30-year-old woman turned to Reddit to rage about the experience, hoping for online support that her feelings were justifiable.

She told the forum that her fiance, Ned, has a young son with his ex-partner. Ned spends a lot of time with his son as the mum is "currently sick".

The woman started her rant by disclaiming that while the toddler is "lovely", Ned takes him everywhere, including "places that aren't child friendly, and we have an issue with that now, but we're working on it."

The three went to a restaurant to celebrate Ned's son's birthday. "The place was nice and looked a bit unfitting for the occasion because it was a somewhat expensive place," she wrote.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The birthday cake surprised her because she thought they "were going to celebrate at home," but noted how she "still had no issue with that."

That was until Ned started singing 'Happy Birthday' to his son.

"I was stunned. I almost dropped my plate," she confessed. "He was singing it at the top of his lungs, not even looking around or paying attention to how many people were staring at us awkwardly.

"I felt so embarrassed I kept whispering for him to stop, but he ignored me. Of course, my future stepson was hyped and a little too active, which isn't good when we're in a public place."

The woman's fiancé asked her what was wrong, to which she responded: "Thanks for finally noticing!"

She candidly told him he had embarrassed her, which he didn't understand and took it as though she was ashamed of her fiancé and his son.

"He looked shocked, saying he didn't get why I would be embarrassed by him celebrating his son's birthday and cheering him up," she said.

"He said that his son's mom is sick and he's trying to do all he can to cheer him up and that all families do that, and no one had an issue with that except me; then, when I tried to explain, he got mad and said he no longer felt like talking."

The pair haven't spoken since, which prompted the woman to turn the advice on Reddit.

One user replied by saying: "He gleefully sang happy birthday to his child, whose mother is sick, while you sat there sulking in your anger.

"Are you applying to be an evil stepmother by any chance?

"You prioritise not being embarrassed over a fun moment between a father and his son. The restaurant staff didn’t think it was inappropriate. It doesn’t seem that you are a good match for someone with kids."

Another reiterated that she probably shouldn't be with someone who has children.

While another added: "Did she ever consider the other dinner's reaction was because of her reaction? I'd be uncomfortable watching a woman sulk instead of joining in!"

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.