Mum sparks fierce debate after she treats herself to solo dinner over household chore row

A mum has sparked a debate after treating herself to a solo dinner when she discovered her husband and kids hadn't done the washing up. She revealed that her decision to dine alone had left her family fuming, but she doesn't believe she was in the wrong.

Sharing her story on Reddit's AITA (Am I The A**hole) forum, a popular platform where users seek judgement on their actions, family disputes often take centre stage as people share their dilemmas.

One mother of four sought advice after a row erupted over household chores - or rather, the lack thereof. She explained that both she and her husband work full time, clocking in between 50 - 60 hours per week.

Their brood includes two 13 year old twins, a 12 year old, and an eight-month-old baby, reports the Daily Record.

READ MORE: Welsh steak house named one of the best in the world

Outlining the problem, she penned: "I implemented a chore system from the time my kids were little. But ever since I had the baby and since the kids are older, ALL of them have slacked off tremendously (including husband).", reports the Mirror.

"I couldn't give f*** all about anything else (because the rest of the house generally isn't dirty-dirty, just cluttered). But I have expressed several times that I am tired of having to wash all the dishes in order to cook and have lashed out in some not so nice ways (shut off the Internet entirely and took the chord with me to work so no one could use the Wi-Fi/watch tv, cancelled family trips, graduation, got in to big arguments with my husband)."

"Things will change for a week to a month and then switch right back to them refusing to help. I'm honestly so tired of it that I don't even have the energy to speak up anymore."

"As I said, my husband has weekends off so he and the kids were home yesterday while I worked. Before I took off for the day I told them "you guys chores had better be completed by the time I get home"," she wrote. "They said "yes ma'am" and I leave. I text husband around 4:30pm asking what they all wanted for dinner because I had to stop off at the grocery store."

"I pick up what he said they all wanted and walk in to my home, to find that not a single dish had been washed and there was at least 10 more dishes in the sink from when I left that morning. I also noted that only a load of laundry had been washed and was still sitting in the washer and was never switched to the dryer."

"Husband was on his a** on the couch watching YouTube. Kids off playing video games. Baby in her walker."

"So, I put the groceries on the table, packed a bag for the baby and told my husband "have at it, I'm going to Applebee's" and left. Maybe 20 minutes later he calls and says "I washed the dishes, sorry. I was super tired today."

"I told him that's zero excuse at all. There's three older kids who have chores and he couldn't even step up and tell his kids to complete anything either. It's pure laziness at this point."

"He said 'I know, I'm sorry, I'm trying to work on it. Can you just come home, I don't know how to make this dish' (it's a pretty difficult dish but google is free)."

"I told him no, I'm sitting at Applebee's and will be enjoying my steak and shrimp with the baby in peace and that him and the older kids can fend for themselves because apology or not, I'm not letting him off the hook here. He had me on speaker phone, so him and all the kids laid right in to me, asking me to please grab them something from Applebee's (it's all of our favourite restaurant)."

"I said absolutely not and hung up the phone. When I returned home the groceries had been put away and apparently they had grilled cheese and cereal for dinner."

"My husband and kids are still p***** at me. I told them this is how it will be every single time they don't do chores from now on. AITA? ".

One person responded to her post, highlighting that putting the mum on speakerphone was 'disrespectful'. They commented: "NTA. I didn't see any mention of this in the comments, so here's my take. Most of the bases have been covered as far as his utter incompetence in being an equal partner and parent."

"HOWEVER, he put the call on speaker and allowed the older children to lay into you? ? ? Excuse me? He's showing your children that it is totally fine to disrespect you and that they should have no consequences for their actions or lack thereof. In what world is that okay? ? ? ".