‘Always Late’ Mom Bashed for Anger Over Son’s ‘Special’ Wedding Invitation

A mother who is “always late” has been bashed online for being angry at her son over her “special” wedding invitation.

Published to Reddit’s controversial r/AmITheA**hole forum, a man under the anonymous username u/PinDry258 shared his story in hopes of receiving the opinions of the “AITA” community. The viral post has over 14,000 upvotes and 2,000 comments.

“My (M33) parents are late for everything. Like everything,” the OP began, Graduation ceremonies, birthday parties, even my father’s retirement dinner. It is completely my mother’s fault. She is a wonderful mother and I love her dearly, she just does not understand the concept of punctuality. We are all used to it. My dad is just done trying to get her to be on time for anything.”

His wife-to-be urged him to be sure that his mom was not late for their wedding as she knew his mother’s lateness tendencies. To prevent her from being late, the OP made a “special” invitation where the time was set an hour earlier than the official start time.

Man pointing to his watch. The internet has slammed a mother who is “always late” for anger towards son over her “special” invitation to his wedding.
AaronAmat/iStock / Getty Images Plus

On the day of the wedding, his mother was “bedside herself” as she feared that they would miss the ceremony since they arrived 45 minutes “late.” She was relieved that she arrived when everyone else was, assuming the ceremony began late. The OP noted that the ceremony and reception were successful.

“The problem came last Sunday,” the OP explained, “My parents came over for a big family dinner and we didn’t bother starting the grill until they showed up. She asked why everyone wasn’t eating and we just said we knew we would be waiting for them since they are always late. She said that she was not always late and had been on time for my wedding. She hadn’t been. They arrived 45 minutes AFTER the time on their invitation.”

The OP’s family began to chuckle at her statement and she wondered what was so funny. The Redditor ended up telling her the truth about his “special” invitation and his mother is upset that he didn’t trust her to show up on time and made her look “foolish” in front of the family.

She was very upset because she got the invitation framed, but the OP explained that he was going to secretly switch the invitation with the official one.

Newsweek reached out to u/PinDry258 for comment.

What is a “tidsoptimist” and how to deal with people who are always late

As defined by departures.com, the Swedish word tidsoptimist means “time optimist,” which describes a person who is always late because they believe they have more time than they actually do.

Do you have a partner who is always late to activities and are looking for healthy ways to confront them about it?

“People can be unpunctual not because they disrespect a partner or fail to pay attention to his or her needs; it can simply be due to absent-mindedness or an inability to estimate time correctly,” In the Name of Love author Aaron Ben-Zeév told Brides.

Brides.com shared different ways to discuss the topic of lateness with your partner:

  • Talk it out: Sit them down and tell them exactly how you feel about their tardiness.
  • Set a good example: Give your partner tips on how to use their time wisely and not wait until the last minute to do important things.
  • Use your best judgment: If their continuous tardiness has drawn a line in the sand for you, is the relationship worth moving forward?

Redditor reactions

“[Not the a**hole] – How can she complain? If you had sent her an invite with the real time then she would have been 45 minutes late. She should appreciate the fact that you wanted her to be there enough that you took the time to make her a special invite to ensure she arrived on time,” u/Forward_Squirrel exclaimed, receiving the top comment of over 13,000 upvotes.

“[Not the a**hole],” u/vcatacarte said, “She is embarrassed because she has a problem showing up on time and you proved it.”

U/The__Riker__Maneuver wrote, “Just keep repeating that she was 45 minutes late. Flat out tell her that had you not lied to her, she would have missed your wedding and that not only will you never apologize for doing what you did, YOU want an apology from her for being 45 minutes late in the first place. [Not the a**hole].”

“[Not the a**hole]. It’ll be much easier for her to get over ‘being tricked’ than it would for you and your wife to get over both her and your dad missing your wedding. You did what you had to do,” u/Immeasurable51 commented.