My FIL hosted a competition for my kids, then called them a name when they lost

“I mean, your daughters should learn to lose gracefully, yes. But I also think they should be empowered to call out obvious bulls**t.”

Every time Olivia* takes her kids to their in-law’s house, they tend to have a great time. 

The kids’ grandparents, Jim* and Tina*, usually take part in fun activities when the kids are there so that they can make lifelong memories together.  

But after a recent lighthearted competition went downhill, the family is left to pick up the pieces. 

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The girls went head-to-head in the cookie decorating competition. Picture: iStock

“I could see my girls were upset”

Recently, Olivia took her two daughters, aged 10 and 12, to Jim and Tina’s house, so they could spend some quality time with their grandparents. 

While there, Jim decided to host a “cooking decorating competition” for the two kids, asking them to design a cookie using icing to map out their creative designs. 

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The event was set: there was a selection of cookies, icing and a lot of potential. Everyone knew the kids were going to have a blast. 

Jim even pre-filled out a gift card to use as the prize, so the pressure was really on. 

While the competition was intended only for the kids, there was a last-minute addition to the lineup: their grandmother. 

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That’s right - Tina also decided to take part in the cookie decorating competition. 

“Her cookie was very impressive,” mum Olivia shared on Reddit. “But I presumed [Jim] would pick one of the children as the winner.”

Well, Olivia was wrong. 

Jim, rather than choosing one of his own grandkids as the winner of the children-only competition, decided his wife’s design was the champion. 

“I could see my girls were upset,” Olivia said. This makes total sense, considering they were supposed to compete against each other only to her, not an adult.

But Jim didn’t agree with their emotional response and “called my younger daughter a bad sport”.  

Without a beat, Olivia “called my FIL out” after the “bad sport” comment. She then went further and “told him it was weird to pick a grown woman over children”. Plus, “the kids had really tried”, so why not just allocate an award to one of them?

But to Jim, he was hosting the competition “just for fun”, adding that Olivia’s frustration was “silly”. 

After the hubbub, the girls’ grandmother “ended up feeling bad” for winning the competition and offered to give her prize to the kids to share. 

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“Why was the MIL even allowed to be in the competition?"

Online, people couldn’t contain their frustration with Jim, who they called out for acting out of line with his grandkids and Olivia. 

“This is the most pathetic thing I think I've ever heard,” someone said. 

“I mean, your daughters should learn to lose gracefully, yes. But I also think they should be empowered to call out obvious bulls**t, such as *a man awarding his adult wife the prize in a fun competition for kids*.”

“It’s odd for an adult to enter into a silly competition for kids and then for her to win,” said another. 

One person was locked and loaded with questions.

“Why was the MIL even allowed to be in the competition? Why was FIL ‘the judge’?” they asked. “Why weren’t the other adults in the competition if adults were allowed to join?”

Then, someone theorised a reason why Jim chose his wife over his grandkids.

“Is it possible that FIL picked his wife so that he didn’t have to pick one child over the others?” they asked. 

Then came a brilliant solution: “Why was a prize needed? There were cookies at the end,” read the comment. 

“Next time, the victor gets to lick the icing bowl.”

*Names have been changed

Originally published as My FIL hosted a competition for my kids, then called them a name when they lost