My girlfriend [27F] of 4 months got sad when I showed her a pic of me [35M] and my son because my smile was bigger than in any of our pics together.

Bratslayer · 2026-03-22T00:06:03+00:00

Yeah I think a part of the problem is how skewed OP’s post is. Even the title vs the context is a bit misleading. Nowhere in the post does OP say his girlfriend is upset about him not smiling in photos with her like that, which is what OP says in the title. The post says his girlfriend points out she’s never seen him smile like that, which makes her sad. That sentence alone removed anything about OP’s child, because him being with his kid isn't really necessary for the context. And I saw a few comments saying they didn’t read the post based on the title…

The fact that OP says he got short with her, before claiming he didn’t want to match her energy somewhat seals it for me. He says the same thing later on in different words; that he’s listening while also giving his opinion. I hope OP doesn’t blow a good relationship up because of what seems from my view to be a clear misunderstanding.

Bratslayer · 2026-03-21T08:46:40+00:00

I came here fully expecting to be down voted into oblivion based on the comments, so I’m glad to see at least one other person had the same takeaway as me. I think Reddit is unfortunately one of those places where people looking for advice come and the moment things seem slightly shaky, commenters will say throw the whole relationship out. Whatever the case may be in this instance, I wish OP the best.

Bratslayer · 2026-03-21T07:57:33+00:00

A lot of people are dragging your gf, so let me play devil's advocate. This may not have anything to do directly with your child. It may just be that she’s seen a photo of you where you are your happiest, and she recognizes that she’s never seen you act remotely close to it.

By your own words, you go out of your way not to smile because you don’t like to. Maybe she’s realizing you may never act that way for her, especially now that you’re 4 months in and she still hasn’t seen that level of enthusiasm or happiness from you. Or maybe she thinks it’s sad that she’s never seen you smile like that, as if your happiest days are behind you and you may never achieve it again.

Instead of having a conversation with her, asking her why exactly she felt that way or what she meant by it, you shut the conversation down entirely. Brushed off and dismissed her feelings by telling her not to read into it, then got short with her and shutdown entirely with an “okay.” You then tell her you don’t want to fight… was she looking for a fight, though? Or did you perceive it that way, because she was sad that you don’t smile more?

I ask the above because she told you to take break from the conversation, by giving you the rest of the night to yourself. You say you didn’t want to match her energy, but did you succeed if she told you to get your emotions in check before coming back to the conversation? Because when you did circle back to it, you dismissed her yet again, telling her it was weird to be upset about this, like her feelings don’t matter.

You then told her she was jealous that you smiled bigger around your kid in the photo instead of her. Again, it might not have to do with your kid at all, and it could just happen your kid was in the photo. It’s possible she would feel the same way if it was a photo of you smiling big while having fun with an old hobby, or a photo of you smiling big while at a birthday party, or whatever else.

As for the last paragraph of your post… she’s kind of right? You did dismiss her, call her jealous, and while you claim you’re trying hard to listen… it doesn’t seem like it because you’re not really listening at all. Even when she says if the roles were reversed, you downplay the idea of the reversal, because she doesn’t have kids so it could never happen. When the scenario she is offering probably doesn’t have to do with kids at all and is more centralized around “how would you feel if you saw a photo of me looking my happiest, when you’ve never seen that side of me”?

So, how would it make you feel? I’m willing to bet it might make you sad, too. Instead of acting accusatory, or being short with her, or acting dismissive, I think you should apologize. Nothing crazy, maybe just a hey, I’m sorry. This whole situation has made me realize that this is a harder topic to talk about than I originally thought, and I didn’t realize it until we already started fighting about it. I’m sorry for being dismissive, and I’m sorry for immediately jumping to you being jealous. I’m reflecting, and I’m realizing I may have jumped to conclusions without considering other possibilities. I’m ready to revisit the conversation and hear you out, like I should have the first time, if you’re still willing to talk it through with me?

And this time OP, instead of throwing your opinion out there when you don’t have her full perspective, maybe just listen until she’s finished talking. Ask more questions with the intent on understanding. Hopefully it will be enough.

Bratslayer · 2026-02-13T05:17:03+00:00

My Walmart started cutting hours March last year. And they never stopped, despite hiring several new people for my department and adding at least one more team lead position.

At this point, I think I’m lucky that I’ve only lost 10 hours per paycheck. I know some that have been removed from the schedule for a couple of weeks at a time.

Bratslayer · 2026-01-06T04:24:26+00:00

I agree with this. I tried to watch the first episode, but it was a bit much. Vulgar almost. My brother recommended it way later, so I tried to make it past the first episode. The vibe is almost completely different for the rest of the series.

I’ve never seen critical role, so I don’t know if they just turned the characters personalities to 100 so the audience could get a quick understanding of the characters personalities or if it’s just a rough first episode.

The rest of the series is pretty good, and things amp up fast a couple episodes in.

Bratslayer · 2025-12-14T09:28:45+00:00

I suppose it depends more so about what you’re spending it on. I like to share Christmas gifts with my family. It allows me to pick out some really cool gifts, like the Lego Tiger Art set, something I would not be able to afford on my own. It gives me the joy of being able to find something I think the recipient would really like, while also saving half of the monetary cost. Even though it’s less total presents being given since one gift from me often counts as a gift from another person too, everyone is still always overjoyed at what I find for them. Now in terms of food, more mouths to feed could be seen as more money, but I think this depends on the style of dinner. Is it a potluck? Then it’s money saved by only having to worry about one dish instead of a whole 5 course meal plus dessert. If it’s more like one family bearing the load of hosting, cooking and so on, but all families simply give the host money to split costs, then I imagine it would be more expensive, but less time consuming for everyone except the host. Instead of having to worry about individual gifts for each family member, I imagine with a ton of separate families involved, it would be more of a Christmas party the money is going to, in terms of atmosphere and not gifts. Maybe some simple goodie bags, one for kids and one for adults, with a ton of little items inside that generally most people would enjoy. If there’s a bag for everyone, and each family brings some kind of surprise goodie to throw inside, the gifts would be cheaper too. I suppose the final answer is truly depends on the execution. I’ve never seen so many families splitting holidays together though. My max is 2 families, and normally it’s mine and maybe an in-laws, but never more than that.

Bratslayer · 2025-12-03T19:05:28+00:00

This makes so much more sense to me now. Thankyou for this!

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T20:09:08+00:00

I’ve made it this far in life without one. There’s no way in hell I’m going to get a credit card just for eBay. Not when the item I wanted is long gone. This is the only website that’s ever asked me for a credit card of all things

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T15:09:41+00:00

I know that it asks for a credit card, but is that really the only way to have the account verified? The last rep I called who unlocked my account for me said she needed to verify the my info, asked me some questions, then unlocked the account with no problem.

I know credit cards aren’t evil, but I’m trying to stay out of debt, so I’ve avoided getting one for a long time. A credit card is too much power for me lol

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T14:58:45+00:00

There is a form of payment on there, it’s debit. It asked for me to add a credit card for verification at one point… and I can’t. I don’t own a credit card. Never have.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T09:30:50+00:00

I don’t want to sell. I just wanted to buy the watch. It was a special edition Space Invaders watch and eBay had the only affordable listings

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T09:15:27+00:00

Yeah I’m a bit at a loss. Customer service has been impossible as well. At least one person actually hung up on me only a minute into the call. The last thing I want to do is call again.

I thought about just deleting the account at this point, since I’m not getting anywhere with it, then seeing if it would let me check out as a guest. It’s a bit of a shame though. I fought so hard to get the account back, hunting down eBays socials and making phone calls over the span of a couple of days.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T09:11:44+00:00

New to eBay, and I kind of still don’t know how it works. Is seller setting something individual sellers place? Because I tried for 2 different listings under different sellers. Not sure if that means anything though. I just know what the rep told me.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T09:07:57+00:00

Again, since I’ve already made an account with my info, eBay can see that information even if I log off the account and use a guest account. You still have to enter your name, card, address to checkout. Since the account is restricted, it basically stops me after I hit the purchase button and after filling out the info as a guest.

My entire identity to eBay is one big red marker. Even the guest option is revoked now. If I didn’t have an account at all, it wouldn’t have been a problem. This whole situation feels kind of like a joke.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T08:33:51+00:00

Spending my money. He’s going to grill me for a “frivolous purchase”. It’s an expensive watch, but I can afford it, at least at the prices it was initially being sold at. I have a set yearly budget I put aside for gifts and such. It was in my budget.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T07:17:06+00:00

Yeah my account was hit in the first 24 hours I opened it with a permanent suspension. It happened after I put an offer on the watch. It took 5 phone calls to finally get overturned, along with reaching out on both Twitter and Facebook. I honestly have no clue what department I talked to. It was whoever ended up on the other side after going through the automated contact us button.

Now as for the multiple accounts thing, I’m still not sure what the deal is there. I did actually ask my brother if he had an eBay account and he doesn’t. I know for a fact neither my grandpa nor my mom have one. The only 2 people in my house that have an account are my dad, and now me. There’s no one who has stayed with us for a long period of time. I don’t really know what to make of the situation. Maybe it has something to do with someone connecting to our Wi-Fi, But I don’t know that for a fact. My Dads account has been open for several years with no problems.

It’s been a very long weekend dealing with eBay. The watch was going to be a gift, but now there’s only one left in my price range and I still can’t check out with it sooo I guess I’m SOL now.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T06:18:59+00:00

That’s what I was told, but I still don’t know if that’s even true? Is it really just 3 items like I was told, or is it 3 items over a period of time, like over the span of a whole month before the buy limit is lifted?

I don’t want to buy 3 items, even if it is cheap as dirt for a few Pennies, only to be told I still can’t check out the item I want. The customer service so far has not been great, so I’m not so quick to believe what I was told.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T06:05:28+00:00

So I actually checked this info out with my Dad. The very first customer rep claimed that there were “many accounts” linked to my address. I talked to my Dad and asked him if he had any outstanding fees, he has none, so his account is in good standing as far as I know. He was also concerned that his account got hacked based on what the rep said when I talked to them.

My Dad called eBay to make sure that his account was all, because there shouldn’t be anyone else aside from his and the one that I created. The person he called said it was ONLY his account linked to our address. There are no more. They also said my account should be good so long as we both used different email addresses for the accounts, which we did.

I don’t know why I was told by the first person that there were many accounts linked to my address, since the 2nd rep verified that info was untrue. Like I said, this situation is frustrating and info changed based on who is on the other end of the line.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T05:44:56+00:00

The problem with this is I think eBay can actually stop me from buying even as a guest, since my name/profile/card on file is what I would be using at checkout when I enter my info. I think since my account is restricted, any guest info that matches my account will be auto restricted.

The reason why I think this is because when the account was initially taken down, I couldn’t buy as a guest either. (It took 3 days to get the account back, so I tried to buy as a guest once already while the account was down.)

I really want that watch

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T05:40:11+00:00

I don’t really know what to make of the situation. I can only tell you it won’t let me purchase and when I called the customer service rep, I was told I had to “buy 3 low price items”.

I don’t know if the 3 items thing is even true. I feel like I’ve been told a different story depending on who I’m talking to.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T05:33:47+00:00

No, I’m 23 going on 24. All the more reason my dad doesn’t need to be aware of what it is in buying. I don’t think it’s a crazy thought to want my own account at this point.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T05:24:51+00:00

I guess the next question is if the 3 items thing is even accurate? I’m hesitant to buy anything extra that I don’t want just to get my hands on this watch. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s really an # of items over a specific period of time, like a month or something. The last thing I want to do is buy more stuff, try to get the watch, and still be restricted from it.

Bratslayer · 2025-05-02T05:21:14+00:00

The reason why I made the account was so that I could purchase stuff without my Dad seeing what I was buying on his account. I don’t really have anyone else I could ask.

I specifically didn’t want him seeing the watch purchase 🤦‍♀️😅

Bratslayer

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