Let me set the stage: I (28F) and my husband (30M) are both big fans of superhero movies and all things “geeky.” It’s actually how we started dating—our mutual love for comics, video games, and superhero movies brought us together. For our anniversary this year, he even gave me a limited edition Batman Who Laughs statue.
Our two kids, a daughter (6F) and a son (4M), enjoy having family movie nights where they get to pick whatever movie they want from our collection. Recently, they chose Barbie: Swan Lake, and my husband spent the entire movie huffing and puffing, clearly displeased. Afterward, the kids apologized to him for picking something he didn’t like and went to bed looking disheartened.
I asked him what was wrong—thinking maybe he just had a bad day at work or didn’t like Barbie movies—when he snapped, “When are we going to have them start watching good movies? Like Avengers or, hell, even Justice League!?”
I tried to lighten the mood by joking, “I thought we didn’t talk about Justice League!” But instead of laughing, he shot back with, “They are old enough to sit down and watch these far better movies than whatever trash you grew up with.”
That really caught me off guard. My childhood movies have never been a source of contention between us, and his comment stung. I told him that I’d rather let the kids decide for themselves what they enjoy instead of forcing them to watch something. It’s the same way I let them choose whether to read my comics or not—except for the scary or more mature ones—and whether they want to play video games with me. For example, my son and I share a Minecraft world, while my daughter and I enjoy playing Animal Crossing.
In contrast, my husband doesn’t let them touch his comics, often snapping at them for even asking, and he refuses to play games with them. His argument was that he wants to have something in common with the kids beyond “just a bloodline.” My response was that I’d rather they discover their interests on their own terms.
So, AITA for wanting to let our kids choose their own paths instead of forcing them into ours?
