In the complicated world of co-parenting, the holidays often bring out the best in people… or the very worst. For many families, the goal is to keep the peace for the sake of the children. This usually requires a lot of patience and the ability to ignore small slights. However, some people see this kindness as an opportunity to take advantage of others. When a generous grandmother offered to host a luxury holiday outing, she didn’t expect to be uninvited from her own event by the very person she was trying to help.

The conflict began during the planning of a local holiday event at a petting zoo. The evening featured light displays, sleigh rides, and a full dinner. To make the night special, the grandmother and her husband bought expensive VIP tickets for everyone, including her son’s ex-partner, Anna, and Anna’s new boyfriend. They even arranged for the tickets to be left at the gate so everyone could arrive separately. 

Two hours before the event, Anna called with a list of demands. She claimed she wanted the night to be for family only, a definition that suddenly excluded the people who had paid for the tickets. She was attempting to use the grandparents’ money to host her new boyfriend’s mother while cutting the grandparents out of the picture. She even tried to dictate a list of expensive toys for her daughter, Crystal, that the child hadn’t even asked for.

Instead of arguing, the grandparents decided to take a different path. Since Anna insisted on a family only night, they decided to go with their own son and enjoy the event themselves. When they reached the ticket booth, they didn’t let the extra VIP passes go to waste. They asked the staff to give the tickets to the next couple with kids who arrived at the gate without passes. They turned a moment of greed into a random act of kindness for strangers.

The fallout was immediate.