A Woman Was Called A “Color Grinch” By Her Mother-In-Law For Not Using Colorful Christmas Ornaments

A person’s style and decor decisions can be a very personal thing. Some people enjoy taking the time to curate and plan our their outfits or details in their home. It’s totally normal to have a sense of what you like and apply that to your surroundings. Home is where we come to relax, unwind, and we want to be surrounded by an aesthetic that we love. No one wants to come home to a place that doesn’t feel like, well, home.

Now, of course, once kids are in the picture, most parents have to make some design sacrifices for the sake of survival (ugly plastic toys everywhere, FTW).

However, according to one woman, that is not always the case.

A mother-in-law is asking Reddit’s “Am I The A**hole?” thread if she is in the wrong for calling her daughter-in-law out for having no colors in her Christmas tree decorations, despite claiming her granddaughter loves the decor.

She explains in the thread that her son and daughter-in-law moved into their first home, noting that she figured this would finally be the holiday season when they would decorate their space a little more. She also purchased some colorful ornaments to help them get started with their decor haul.

On a day when she was watching her granddaughter, Shelly, she noticed that they had put up their Christmas tree. However, the tree was naked.

“My son asked me to finish it if I wanted since both parents were busy with work and didn’t want the boxes to be out all week,” she wrote before noting that she and Shelly put up all the decorations on the tree, including the colorful ones she purchased earlier in the year.

“Shelly loved it and she spent a long time just looking at it,” she continued.

The next day, the OP wrote that she went back to her son’s house only to see that the tree looked completely different than how she had left it the day prior.

“Every single colorful ornament was off the tree. I asked Shelly what happened and her mom (DIL) took them all off. She was got quite upset talking about it. The tree is just dark with basically no color now,” she explained.

When confronting her son and daughter-in-law about the tree, the OP says her DIL became defensive.

“Her response was she didn’t like how it looked. It was too overstimulating for Shelly (Shelly doesn’t have any disabilities). I asked if she was serious and she told me she was,” she wrote.

That’s when the OP called her daughter-in-law a “color Grinch” since she “destroyed something Shelly loved.”

The OP continued, “She got really mad, and I told her to put it back up for her daughter and she can deal with colors not matching in her home. She called me a jerk. My son is annoyed with me also since it’s their home.”

“I just can’t understand why they would mess with something their daughter loved.”

She also wanted to clarified that she doesn’t mind that the tree isn’t her “vision.”

“My issue is them taking away something Shelly loved because it didn’t match her mother’s vision. Who puts their vision over their kid’s happiness?” she asked.

Several Reddit users chimed in with their take on this Christmas decor fiasco.

“YTA—not because you love color. I’ve had people ask me before if my outfit came with a ‘Dimmer switch.’ But it’s your DIL’s house. You owe her some respect. Why don’t you apologize and ask if you could buy a miniature tree for your grand daughter’s room?” one user wrote.

Another echoed, “YTA. She gets to decide what her tree looks like. Your granddaughter’s Christmas isn’t ruined because there is less color on the tree. You have no right to make the rude remark you did just because she doesn’t like the same color scheme you like for Christmas.”

“YTA. Not your home, not your tree, not your daughter. Back off,” another said.

Other users took up issue with the OP’s son. After all, he was the one who told his mom that she could decorate the tree (probably without checking in with his wife).

“Her son could have talked to his wife and done it himself. Where people are taking issue is this is not an issue OP should be involved in at all. It is not OP’s home. OP has zero say in the decor. Son was also likely in the wrong here,” they wrote.

One user recalled a recent viral sensation: the sad beige Christmas tree mom.

They asked, “Did anyone immediately think of the ‘sad beige mom’ on TikTok who spray pained her kid’s fisher price xmas tree brown and neutrals to match her aesthetic when they read this post?”

Some saw where the OP was coming from, agreeing that her daughter-in-law was putting her ideal home aesthetic over her kid’s desires.

“Who takes down the stuff that makes their kid happy because [it] doesn’t match their look. Putting the look over your own kids happiness,” they wrote.

However someone else chimed in with a great point about creating boundaries when it comes to prioritizing our kid’s happiness over our own.

“LOL...everything would be unicorns, mermaids and rainbows if my grandkids were allowed to!” another Reddit user pointed out. Great point!

Read the entire Reddit thread here.