One dad is struggling after expressing his love for his daughter and took to the Reddit community for much-needed feedback.
In the post, the father shares that he wants to reassure his child of his unconditional love, but that it is causing problems with his wife.
“My daughter is 3, and sometimes gets scared I’ll stop loving her when she does something bad,” he writes. “Today she bumped a glass off the table and started crying.”
“She asked if I still love her and I said ‘I love you more than anything’ and gave her a kiss.”
To his surprise, his wife took his statement personally and immediately became upset.
“My wife was watching and stormed off. I made sure my daughter was fine and cleaned up the glass and went to go see what was going on.”
Now his partner is lashing out and saying that she feels unloved.
“My wife was crying and calling me an a**hole who doesn’t love her (I guess I have 2 irrational 3 years olds now). I said of course I love her and asked why she was wigging out.”
His wife explained that she took it as an insult and, as a result, is feeling unloved.
“She said that because I said the above phrase to my daughter, it meant she didn’t mean as much to me. Is this really something I’m not supposed to say? My mother said it to me, and my dad didn’t freak out.”
Now the confused dad is stuck wondering, “Am I the a**hole for saying ‘I love you more than anything’ to my daughter in front of my wife?”
Thankfully, Reddit responders were quick to assure him that he is not an a**hole for making his daughter feel loved. Some empathized with his wife, but others were less understanding and suggested that she seek outside help to help manage her emotions.
Of the nearly 5,000 responses to the post, nearly all of them supported this dad’s desire to show his daughter that she’s loved. “Your wife/her mom shouldn’t be competing with your daughter. Surely she can comprehend why a parent would say that to their child. It doesn’t mean you love her any less. It was meant to console your daughter,” one said. And that about sums it up!