To think this was a really mean thing to do?

[ButY]

Regular poster but name changed.

Not sure if I'm overreacting but feeling really hurt.

I have quite bad anxiety, so Christmas is always a tricky day to negotiate but I'd say I have it quite well under control. And i definitely appreciate that the day is about my kids, not my issues, so I try my best to keep a lid on it and stay calm.

I'd made it through present giving, breakfast, family walk, was upstairs getting changed, literally no clothes on. Suddenly hear loads of noise downstairs. Shout down what's wrong, no answer. Next thing I hear screaming and DS2 shouting "Oh my god, oh my god!" Then DS1 starts screaming "DS1! DS1! Omg DS1" and DH joins in also screaming. They sound totally terrified, so I literally have a panic attack on the spot. Grab my dressing gown, have never run downstairs so fast in my life thinking something awful happened to DS1.

To find them all screaming in the lounge and a huge crack on tv screen which we only got last year. Simultaneously relieved Ds1 alive and furious about tv, as I also suffer with OCD symptoms and find any damage / marks very upsetting. Must admit I swore. Then they all start laughing hysterically. It's some stupid app that makes a tv screen look cracked.

I burst into tears and ran upstairs. They are all still laughing. I felt actually sick when the adrenaline kicked in, my heart was pounding. DH couldnt understand why I was so upset and cross and keeps saying I must have been up to something upstairs that got me upset!

I just feel ganged up on and like it's a horrid trick to play on someone, let alone someone with anxiety. And on Christmas. AIBU?

I have had acute anxiety and OCD which is under control now but I agree with others who say it’s the anxiety-haver’s responsibility to manage it. Obviously this prank is an extreme example but do they have to tiptoe around you in everyday life? I don’t think they were ‘vile, cruel, dickheads,’ or whatever else they’ve been called, thoughtless and silly maybe but your reaction was really disproportionate.

Pranks make me feel sick, I hate watching them.

They make me feel so uncomfortable.

YANBU

Bit mean, especially on Christmas Day.

Sorry op but your family sound unkind.

They did it because they knew the reaction they'd get. So they think it's funny to watch you worried, panicked and tearful.

The balance in your family is way off. Of course your dh knew it had upset you - which was precisely why he did it.

If there something he's scared off, maybe you could demonstrate how it feels if he is certain he can't understand your reaction.

What an arsehole.

My point is that young children should learn empathy but not have to tiptoe around a parent's mental struggles, or be made to feel in the wrong when this prank is all over TikTok and friends and others haven't had this reaction.

Just because other people are twats, doesn't mean I'm raising my children to be twats. People with empathy don't laugh at other people's distress. 'Pranks' are made to make one person look stupid so other people can laugh. Why is it funny? I've never understood.

Sorry...OP was CRYING and her family were LAUGHING at her, and some of you think she's at fault? Thank god I am not related to some of you, dear Christ.

I am so sorry OP, what a shitty part of your day.

YANBU, what they did was truly horrid.

@ButY I'd leave them all at home with your husband one day this week coming up, and enjoy a day at the sales only buying items for yourself.

If you don't have any money, take back the present you gave DH or sell one of their games at CEX.

If my family did this to me, I'd be going on strike for at least 2 weeks.

Your husband sounds like a dick. This isn't remotely funny, and you have nothing to apologise for.

Nope totally mean. They could have easily shouted up that omg dc1 broke tv without making op think something terrible has happened with all screaming

That's hilarious. Sorry but if you have small children you can't be so clenched about stuff like this.You are trying to form young lives - tiptoeing around someone that makes their anxiety overrule everything is not healthy. Having an occasional joke like this shows young minds that having fun is normal. Try to roll with it, like they have yo roll with your micromanagement all the rest of the time x

@JovialNickname

That's hilarious. Sorry but if you have small children you can't be so clenched about stuff like this.You are trying to form young lives - tiptoeing around someone that makes their anxiety overrule everything is not healthy. Having an occasional joke like this shows young minds that having fun is normal. Try to roll with it, like they have yo roll with your micromanagement all the rest of the time x

This wasn't having fun. What they did was extremely cruel.

No, it’s not showing them that having fun is normal. Pranks like this are teaching them that bullying is acceptable.