‘Police took the statement and started laughing.’ A Man’s Wife Tried To Get An Elderly Woman Arrested For Hugging Their Child. Was She Wrong?

It’s common knowledge that when one has a baby, mama bear instincts soon follow.

It’s also (thankfully) becoming more well-known how having a baby can affect one’s mental state, which could be what’s going on here.

OP was out shopping with his wife and 19-month-old when he heard his wife screaming for help from a few aisles away. He arrived to find that an elderly woman had hugged their child without asking; her son explained that she has dementia and thinks all kids are her kids.

My wife and I went shopping, I went to a different isle to get some jerky. I heard my wife scream HELP! So I ran over, and she was freaking out because an elderly women hugged our son, you can tell the women was harmless.

The women’s son came along and profusely stating that she had dementia and she meant no harm, that she tends to view every child as her child.

While he was apologizing and trying to calm down his wife she called 911, completely hysterical about all of the bad outcomes that could have happened.

I said it was okay, and I myself apologized for my wife’s overreaction. During this time I was not paying attention and my wife called 911, and called over security it became a huge mess for all parties because my wife was not letting the issue go. You could also tell the son was extremely embarrassed as was I.

I was trying to relax my wife, but she was going on a complete meltdown rage saying that his mother should be in a home if she cannot keep her hands to herself.

What if she got our kid sick, tried to kidnap him, got combative and hurt him.

OP acknowledged those things were possible but actually hadn’t happened, so he wanted to just move on with their day.

Once the police were called, however, the store said everyone had to wait for them to file a report.

All of which I agree are possible outcomes, but I told her none of that happened so let’s just leave it. Security states since the wife called the police we had to wait for them to show up, so they can file a report as per their store policy.

The police basically laughed at the ridiculousness of the entire situation but OP’s wife never came around to admitting she overreacted, even going so far as to tell him that he’d failed as a partner for not supporting her.

About 25 minutes later police showed up and asked what happened and my wife explained everything, you can tell the police were like WTF is wrong with this woman.

I felt nothing but disappointment. Police took the statement and started laughing as they left. Gave the son of the elderly mom a fist bump and said sorry.

My wife was upset I did not have her side, she was upset how I took the side of the son instead of her. I explained his mom was clearly sick, it was a harmless gesture and explained she was one that acted unreasonably.

I did acknowledge her concerns, but nothing bad happened we could have just let is slide and went on with our day. She told me I failed as a husband.

He’s confused, and the people in their lives are split down the middle.

So we ran the story by our family and friends, it is a a 50/50 split. So my BIL said this would be a funny story for AITA, he frequents the sub. So reddit was I the AITA?

So what does Reddit think? Let’s find out!

The top comment agrees his wife was acting totally irrationally.

This person pointed out that mom’s reaction was probably more upsetting than the hug by a mile.

And this commenter is for sure concerned about mom’s mental state.

People who have experience dealing with dementia patients really feel for the others here, too.

They say there is nothing ok about her reaction.

I am a protective mom but this is wild to me.

I think everyone would be right to be concerned about his wife – especially since she can’t seem to see the other point of view even now.