Whenever a situation causes your emotions to spike, it can be natural to rethink things when you’ve calmed down and wonder if you reacted too strongly. That’s where the Reddit thread r/AmIOverreacting comes in. A lot of times it’s obvious that one person got carried away, but other times their response is 100% justified given the circumstances.
Here are some of the most controversial AIO stories from Reddit that made everyone think twice about who to side with.
Posts have been edited for length and clarity.
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1
From Redditor u/Kevin6124
My wife and I have been together for 11 years and have three amazing kids together. We have never had any serious issues. She’s a great mother and has been nothing but an amazing partner for all these years.
However, the other night I was looking for a picture of our son on her phone and I found an album called (my name) sleeping… with 9,631 photos of myself sleeping over the years…. 9,631!!!! She never told me about this or sent me any of the photos. It is just me sleeping in numerous different angles.
I can’t even believe I’m writing this but I am so creeped out and don’t know how to move forward. I confronted her about the pictures and she just got annoyed that I had her phone and offered no explanation. I feel very violated and am uncomfortable sleeping next to her. I feel like I can’t be with this person anymore. What should I do? This [is] weird, right? Or am I overreacting?
2Am I Overreacting To My Wife Not Calling?
From Redditor u/afrinOD253645
Been married over 10 years. Never had an [issue]. She had a vacation with some girlfriends. First night she went out and never called me to let me know she got home safely which she always does. I texted/called her multiple times throughout the night and no answer. By morning I was panicked and ended up calling the hotel to do a wellness check which they did and she was sleeping. She said she hadn’t seen her friends in a long time and got caught up with them and forgot to call. I don’t think she cheated or anything like that, but I was literally worried sick something bad happened to her and was livid she didn’t call. Her response was she can take care of herself and I should stop worrying about it.
3Am I Overreacting For Wanting To Report An Employee For Saying My Daughters’ Birthday Is Ruined Right In Front Of Them?
From Redditor u/20Keller12
Context: My husband, myself and our 4 kids (7F, 6M, 5F, 5F) are currently living in an extended stay motel to the tune of a little over $600/week because our old apartment building was nearly uninhabitable (bedbugs and cockroaches swarming every single apartment in the building). So obviously, things are tight financially.
Yesterday was our twin daughters’ birthday and my husband took all the kids to the store with him to pick up some prescriptions and have them pick out a cake. Since I just did their present shopping and we had just gotten gas, we had about $20 left. Plenty for a little cake at Walmart, but not enough for a slightly more expensive chain (HyVee). He went to the pharmacy after they picked out the cake and was going to pay for it there (no copay on meds) since he could.
Like I said, $20 isn’t enough for a cake at that store, but my husband misunderstood where I wanted him to buy the cake. All 4 kids were standing right there when he realized he didn’t have enough, and the pharmacy employee checking him out apparently said “wow, I’ve never seen a birthday ruined so quickly”. Again, she said this in front of our kids, including the two whose birthday it was. Yes she saw them.
They’re 5. So when they heard her say that they obviously freaked out and started bawling. My husband was able to get a cake at Walmart, but still. Who the f**k does that? I’m furious and I want to report her to her supervisor. Would that be an overreaction? Should I just let it go?
4Am I Overreacting To My Husband Feeding Our Baby Soy Sauce?
From Redditor u/SpiritBook
I don’t even know where to start. Last week, I found out that my husband, “Mark”, gave our baby, “Lucy”, a spoonful of soy sauce. Yep, soy sauce. And now, it’s like she’s addicted to the stuff.
I walked into the kitchen and there was Mark, looking all proud of himself as he spooned a little bit of soy sauce into Lucy’s mouth. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “She seemed curious about it, so I thought I’d let her try”. It didn’t seem that big of a deal at the time, so I let it go.
The next day I walked into the same thing. They were in the kitchen and he was giving her more soy sauce. I asked him what he thought he was doing and again he said it’s not a big deal. He even laughed about it. I tried to stay calm, but inside, I was fuming.
Since then, it’s been a nightmare. Lucy keeps pointing at the cupboard where we keep the soy sauce, and every meal is like a battle. He keeps giving her spoonfuls of soy sauce and it’s like she’s developed this weird obsession.
I’ve tried talking to Mark about it, but he just shrugs it off, saying it’s no big deal. But it is a big deal! I’m worried about what this could do to her taste buds or her health. I mean, soy sauce is loaded with salt. I didn’t want to sound like a total control freak, but I just couldn’t hold it in anymore.
So, I snapped a bit yesterday. I told him it wasn’t funny and that he needed to think about what he was doing. He looked hurt and said he was just trying to bond with Lucy. I get that, but it’s driving me nuts. I’m exhausted from trying to manage this soy sauce craze, and it feels like he’s not taking it seriously.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but I just wish he’d understand how important it is to be careful with what Lucy eats. It’s been a rough few days, and I really hope we can figure this out before our little girl becomes a soy sauce addict for life.
5Am I Overreacting To My Husband Not Wanting To Read The Book I’m Writing?
From Redditor u/evanamyl
I (27F) started writing a book a little over a year ago. When I was a kid, I dreamed of writing books. My mental illness kind of took over for a long time, but I finally got back into it.
It’s a fantasy romance novel. I’m on my third round of edits so the manuscript is complete. My husband (28M) refuses to read it. I’m not asking him to read it quickly, but it would mean a lot to be able to talk to him about plot specific things. Right now, whenever I talk about the book, he’ll make suggestions that just would not work story wise. It’s frustrating because A.) the manuscript is complete. Trying to add new plot points would require me to completely rework it, and B.) He would know the suggestions he’s making wouldn’t work if he would READ IT.
He just uses the excuse “I’m not a reader”. But for me, it hurts because I’ve really put my heart and soul into this manuscript. I’m so proud of it and I just want my favorite person to care enough about that to push past the fact that he doesn’t care to read so he can see how hard I’ve worked on it.
6Am I Overreacting After My Girlfriend Won’t Stop Swapping Out My Real Groceries With Small Versions Of The Items?
From Redditor u/Individual_Tailor767
It’s basically what the title says – but the weird part is she won’t ever admit that it’s her? She just sort of looks at me and pretends to be confused when I confront her?
Basically, every few weeks I come home and some of my groceries are missing and replaced my miniature plastic versions of themselves. Come home from work and looking forwards to a coca cola?
Oh great, my coca cola is gone and there’s a miniature plastic version. Break something small and need to tape it back together? Oh good, miniature duct-tape. Make eggs and want some tabasco? Oh great, miniature tabasco. You get the point – kind of funny, but pretty annoying too.
So far all fair play, clearly my girlfriend thinks it’s some sort of funny prank or practical joke, but the thing thats weirding me out is that she never acknowledges that it’s her? Even when I start to get genuinely upset, or frustrated she insists that it’s “so strange” that “random objects are shrinking in our home”?
This all culminated to last night… Last night I came home and I had been craving something sweet all day. So l started baking blueberry muffins – my genuine favorite treat for myself. I get everything together, preheat the oven, and I’m about to start making the batter when I open the cabinet and oh look – the flour is gone and replaced with a miniature bag of flour.
“Ha ha, so funny”, I immediately call her and ask her where she put it but she keeps playing dumb??? I start making a slightly bigger deal about it I’m like “look, I went to the store to get fresh blueberries, l’ve been looking forward to this, can you please tell me where the flour is?”. She won’t drop the act? Like what the hell???
Before we ended the call she slyly dropped “as if you need more muffins” and hung up??? Like what the hell.
I haven’t called her back yet – so we haven’t talked in over a day. I’m pretty mad at her over this – I went way out of my way to do something special for myself and she wouldnt drop the act when I made it clear I was genuinely upset.
Reddit, I know this sounds insane, but I’m genuinely considering breaking up over this. She clearly doesn’t take my needs seriously. Do you guys think I’m overreacting?
TL;DR; Items from around my house such as sugar, a bottle of coca cola, etc “randomly” shrink into miniature plastic toy versions of themselves. My girlfriend won’t f***ing stop and I’m losing it – she ruined my muffins to stick with this stupid joke.
UPDATE: turns out it was my brother [playing] a prank on me he saw in TikTok. My girlfriend apologized for her snide comment about the muffins but suggested I’ve been gaining a lot of weight lately and was annoyed that I’ve been pointing the finger at her.
7Am I Overreacting To What My Fiancee Said About Her Late Boyfriend?
From Redditor u/Leading_Angle7311
I 29M and my fiancée 24F have been together for 3 years and we have been engaged for about 6 months now. Before we ever met, close to 5 or 6 years ago, her ex boyfriend died in a tragic car accident. Obviously she was devastated for quite a while but when we first began dating she said she was in a way better place emotionally. Obviously what happened was awful so I was supportive of her grieving process at the time.
Recently though something happened that many may feel is silly but I feel that it is actually something greater. My fiancée and I are big Swifties so we find ourselves listening to her music all of the time, especially performances from the Eras Tour. Last night we were listening to one of these performances from the Eras Tour. It was a mashup of the songs Cornelia Street and Maroon. While listening she started crying. I stopped the song and went to comfort her by asking her what was wrong and she told me that the song reminded her of her now late ex and how he was the “love of her life.” She went on a rant about how the songs made her feel haunted by memories of him in our relationship and hearing the songs together was overwhelming and the breaking point.
At the time I wasn’t responsive to that comment as I focused on making her feel better as her being happy is important to me. However later last night when we were getting into bed what she said finally was sinking in. I just couldn’t take it after a couple minutes and snapped on her. She then went out of the room upset and crying and slept in the living room for the night.
What she said stung. I understand that her ex meant the world to her at the time but we are currently building a future together with plans of trying for a baby on our honeymoon in Paris. I now find my self with a question about if she is still in love with him or maybe even the memory of being with him. I wonder if she sees me as more of a rebound that she got comfortable with after her “one true love” or if she does actually think we are timeless. It is making me reconsider everything about the engagement. I wish to not marry someone who doesn’t see me as the love of their life. I am wondering if our relationship can begin again normally after this.
Am I in the wrong for thinking about ending things and calling off the engagement over this? Is it possible that I am just overreacting?
8Am I Overreacting After I (Unknowingly) Drove To See My Boyfriend And He Didn’t Come Down?
From Redditor u/examinethewitness
I’m working on getting my driver’s license. My boyfriend lives 45 min away at college. My dad made me drive there, with me thinking we were going to his office (he’s a professor), only for us to be at my boyfriend’s dorm.
I call him, asking if he can come down for just a minute or two to hug and kiss (as was my dad’s plan), and he says he’s in the bathroom and he’ll talk to me later.
I drove home crying. My dad’s pissed at him, so am I, but I can’t tell if it’s justified or not. I wanted to see him, and he’s said he’s wanted to see me. So why? Why couldn’t he say “I’ll be down in a minute or two?” rather than just blow me off? I texted him, apparently he’s been feeling bad all day. I don’t feel like that excuses it. So, am I overreacting?
Edit: I am a guy, for everyone saying I’m a girl.
9Am I Overreacting For Calling the Police On What I Thought Was An Unattended Child
From Redditor u/Ilikecoins123
I work as a technician, I went to a house to do a service. I rang the door bell and a child that appeared to be 4-5 years old answered the door in an obviously soiled diaper. I asked if his parents were home and he said they were at work and closed the door. I tried calling the number on file, but it was to a landlord that didn’t have the contact information for the current tenant.
I called the police and informed them of the situation. I saw the cop arrive at the home and leave promptly about 5 minutes later. I’m assuming all was well and someone was home. A few houses later the renter found me and confronted me for calling the police and said that he was home. I told him that your toddler answered the door and said no one was home so I wanted to make sure everything was okay. Needless to say the guy was still pissed off and insinuated that I was racist and should mind my own business. What would you have done in this situation and did I overreact?
10Am I Overreacting For Telling My Boyfriend To Leave A Party “Early” When I Have Acute Kidney Failure?
From Redditor u/ThrowRA_thebigbaddo
Told me to drive around instead of sit outside on the front porch [because] in my pajamas I look like a crackhead. Party is also [with] 2 female friends. Also after this he told me I was overreacting and I’ll understand arguments like this don’t matter when I’m older (I’m 22f and [he’s] 36m).
11Am I Overreacting After My Husband Won’t Let Me Take More Than Two Showers A Week?
From a former Redditor
This is the weirdest thing my husband has ever done. He really is a sweet and loving husband and I love him more than anything. Divorce is not an option just to put that out there before the comments come in.
My husband has always been a little out there. He is a computer programmer and super smart, but also believes all sorts of things. Both real and conspiracy. Lately he has been very worried about the environment and global warming.
About two months ago he got real worried about water. Yes, water. He is concerned about the quality of water. He put in a new filter system in our house which I actually love because it tastes so much better.
But he is also concerned about how much water we use. Not because of money, but the environment. He created a new rule that we can only take 2 showers a week. Now I’m someone that likes to shower everyday before bed. I just don’t like feeling dirty in bed.
This has created the most conflict in our marriage in 20 years. He is obsessed with the amount of water we use. At first I just ignored his rule, but he would shut off the hot water while I was in the shower.
I started trying to use the shower at the gym, but it’s too much work to go every night with having kids. I honestly thought he would get over this within a month. But he is stuck on this still to this day.
Last night I really wanted a shower, but had “hit my quota” as he says. I said I’m showering and that he better not do anything. But about two minutes in, the hot water turned off.
I grabbed my towel and went down and started yelling. Telling him this is the dumbest thing he has ever done. I also told him I’m moving to my parents if he doesn’t stop this.
Guys, I love this man. He is everything to me, but I can’t take this anymore. Am I going to far in threatening to move out?
12Am I Overreacting After My Wife Keeps Pranking Me?
From Redditor u/Proud_Feature_4076
My wife (28F) and I (29M) have been married about a year, but are waiting to start a family until we’re a bit more financially stable. About three months ago, she came to me with a positive pregnancy test and told me that we were having a baby. Not the perfect timing or whatever but I was excited. She then starts laughing and tells me that it’s just a prank and she was filming my reaction (she’s an “influencer”). I was a bit upset but laughed it off. Since then, she’s done the same “prank” about three times. Most recently, I actually believed her again because she brought an ultrasound photo. When she revealed it wasn’t real, I blew up and threatened to leave her if she kept doing this and from there the argument just got worse. Now, she’s saying we shouldn’t even have kids if I’m threatening to divorce her over this. Am I overreacting?