My partner (30F) and I (30M) flew across the country, halfway, to visit her family for Christmas. At work, I sustained a serious back injury at the end of September and have only just recently started regaining mobility, after many painful months. They were aware of the injury, and we had even expressed our concerns about traveling due to it.
Her parents are very traditional and, despite knowing that we live together and having visited our house in the past, they still refuse to allow unmarried couples to sleep in the same room or bed. Because of this, I was forced to sleep on a twin mattress in the basement bedroom—one that was at least 20 years old. I should also mention that I am 6’3″, and I don’t fit on a twin mattress at all.
The first night was extremely painful, and it caused my entire right leg to go numb. I essentially got no sleep. So we decided to book a hotel room after that, so I could sleep on a proper mattress that wouldn’t aggravate my injury further.
When I explained this to my partner’s mother, she insisted I just needed to adjust the mattress in the basement and said I was being ridiculous. I was firm but polite in my response, and after that, she seemed to be fine with it.
Well, when it came time for us to head to the hotel for the night, she freaked out. She apparently didn’t know that my partner would also be staying at the hotel. She told my partner that she “didn’t raise her like this,” and then she just sat sulking in the living room while we packed our bags. Apparently, after we left, she spent the rest of the night crying. All I really wanted was to sleep in a bed I could actually fit on—one that didn’t trigger nerve pain in my leg. So AITA here?
Update: Thanks for the kind wishes, everyone. We went back to her parents’ house this morning, but her mom barely spoke to either of us and acted extremely passive-aggressively. So we decided to head out for the airport to catch our flight home. We’re now getting some much-needed rest at the airport and looking forward to being back home.
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