Mum embarrasses son during birthday dinner by bringing own meal to restaurant

A man has described how his wife embarrassed their son by bringing her own food to a restaurant to save money.

He said they don’t “have a need to save money” but she acts in a frugal manner regardless, and it is starting to embarrass their children.

He wrote: “She will buy meals to bring to the restaurant to be microwaved. We have gotten looks before and it’s always turned down. It results in her making a fuss and will be asked to leave. I have told her that she needs to stop and that when we go out.”

It all became too much on his son’s 12th birthday. “I did ask that my wife not bring any of her meals along to the restaurant,” he wrote.

“We arrived at the restaurant and sat down at the table. My wife gets up to use the bathroom and we order our drinks. When the drinks arrive, we give the waiter what we want to eat and my wife orders a small salad. The waiter comes back over with a meal and says ‘Ma’am, we can’t warm this up for you.’

“I see my son and daughter both look embarrassed, and I apologise to the waiter. My wife spends the rest of the dinner staying silent and wouldn’t touch the salad she ordered.

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“When the evening was over and we got home, my wife and I began to argue about the evening. I told her that she was in the wrong for bringing a meal when I asked her not to. She started to argue back that eating out is a waste. I then said ‘well, you embarrassed everyone, including our kids’. She asked me to leave the bedroom and I am now staying in the guest bedroom.”

Reacting to the story, people thought something must be going on.

One wrote: “I would suggest that you look into your finances in detail ASAP. Something is triggering your wife to act in this way. Look at external causes first.”

Another said: “Investigate your finances and why she has recently became so weird about money. It’s not normal to take her own food to restaurants.”

And the man later reflected on the incident and wrote “I feel that I might be the AH because I told my wife that she embarrassed everyone during my son’s birthday dinner. My wife is now upset and asked me to leave the bedroom. I feel that I might have overreacted and could have reacted differently. My kids are very upset and do not want to eat out with their mom anymore.”