His story, shared to Reddit's infamous AITA ("Am I the A--hole") forum broke down how he came to the decision of what he gave to his wife -- with whom he shares a five-year-old daughter -- how she reacted to it, and where things stand now.

What he perhaps didn't expect was the response online, which wasn't much better than the one he got from his wife. Dare we say it was, in fact, significantly worse!

Read on to see what happened.

The anonymous man immediately jumped into what his beef is with his wife and how she handles this particular holiday. "5 yrs ago my wife became a mother to our only child. She views Mother's Day as a way to get expensive gifts for herself—weekend getaways, shoes, or in this case, an expensive hairstyle at a trendy salon." He then explained how his thinking differs from hers, adding, "I always thought Mother's Day was to honor MY mother, not my wife."

OP said friends had suggested helping his daughter make an age-appropriate gift, but shared that his wife not only had other ideas ... she was rather insistent about it. "This year, my wife insisted on an expensive hair treatment that cost almost $400," he wrote. "I told her that was an absurd idea for a Mother's Day gift. She insisted. She went to the salon and paid a down payment of $100, then told me I should pay the rest, plus tax and tip."

After OP refused to do that, the couple fought with OP arguing "that the cards, dinners, mugs, arts and crafts she gets from my daughter and I should be enough." Nevertheless, OP did celebrate Mother's Day with his wife -- just not how she wanted. "I took my wife and daughter out to brunch and bought my wife a bouquet of flowers to surprise her when she got home from work," he shared, adding that she did get her hair done, but paid for it herself.

He thought everything was good between them until Father's Day. "In the past, my wife gets us to go out to an expensive dinner or buys me a bottle of whiskey," wrote OP. "This year, she bought me flowers! I laughed and said, 'What are these for? You bought yourself flowers?' She snapped and said she was just trying to be nice."

He said that he was happy she "didn't blow money on something unnecessary" and then he made reservations at a restaurant she'd been wanting to try. Again, everything seemed fine until later when she went to move the flowers in a vase and OP said, "Careful with my flowers, babe."

"Then she snapped!" he wrote. "'Well, how does it feel it?!' she said. 'You only got me flowers, so I got you flowers. I had to pay for my own hair style. I didn't ask you for a penny. I went and paid by myself! You said you're only celebrating your mom on Mother's Day, so I'm not celebrating you on Father's Day.'"

"I told her that I thought the brunch, the day with our family, and doughnuts with daddy at my kid's school was enough for me. (Also, we moved to a more expensive home in May, so money has been tighter than usual)," OP continued, wondering then if he was in the wrong. "Should I just spoil my wife and give her what she wants on Mother's Day? Maybe my wife is jealous of the fact that I give gifts to my mom on Mother's Day ($50 online gift card). She seems selfish to me personally, but AITA?"

But there was so much more to unpack for Redditors, starting with how this man sees Mother's Day as a celebration only of his own mother, rather than also the mother of his child. But then there's the financial irresponsibility of his wife, who may be going outside the family's means -- not to mention the idea of demanding expensive gifts and going so far as to put a down payment on it herself.

Maybe ESH ("Everyone Sucks Here"), which did seem to be a common consensus. Let's just say the comments did not go well for OP. The most nuanced response was also the most popular, with more than 2.5K upvotes. This person decided, "Somewhat YTA but mostly it seems like you have different tastes and expectations for these holidays."

They did note that his expectation that Mother's Day be about HIS mother "is kinda bulls--t. You have a young child and your wife is the MOTHER to that child. It is very normal and reasonable for a partner to honor the mother of their children as well as their own mother." They went on to call his attitude "minimizing and dismissive."

One commenter noted him calling out his wife for her spending, but then he turned around and took the family out to dinner for Father's Day. "You whine and moan about expenses, and for example, when your wife doesn't do something extravagant for fathers day, and you *GASP* do something extravagant to celebrate the lack of doing something extravagant," they wrote. "What goes through your mind? So basically you are only ok with spending money if you do it."

Another was far more blunt about the seeming double-standard, writing that it "sounds like you never have honored your wife on Mother's Day. Like, how the fuck do you think it's okay to accept presents on Father's Day when you don't do s--t for Mother's Day??"

"You sound awful to me, mean, stubborn, selfish, and rude for no reason," wrote another "Do you even like your wife? I'd hate to be married to someone who showed such contempt for me. The way you talk about her is so disrespectful. YTA. Your poor wife. She must feel so unimportant and not valued or appreciated at all, not that you care how she feels."

But Redditors had plenty of issues with the wife as well, with one writing, "I understand both of your frustrations and think you're AH's in different ways." Their issues with OP were echoed throughout the thread -- and above -- with the commenter adding the wife is for "demanding an expensive gift."

"I agree that she deserves to be celebrated on Mother's Day but that doesn't give her the right to dictate what she's given," they wrote. "She doesn't get to demand specific gifts or require you to spend $300+ on her hair just because it's Mother's Day. She should be happy and grateful for whatever she's given instead of being controlling or materialistic about it."

"Your wife sucks the most for using mother's day as an expensive gift grab and unintentionally teaching your children that is what special days are about," wrote another. "You for wasting money buying her something you know she doesnt want, you could have given her a gift card for the same value that she couldve pit towards her hair treatment."

Some commenters gave a little grace to the wife, with one speculating that "this sounds like a 5-year in the making resentment blow-up because your wife feels unappreciated." They acknowledged the gift demand was excessive, "but most likely was an emotional response where she felt she needed to do all the planning in order to enjoy her mothers day."

What do you think?