Wife hilariously plays the long game after catching husband's innocuous 'Christmas tree' lie

Every family has an unforgettable holiday story and this family's Christmas story shows how far a wife went to teach her stubborn husband a lesson. u/1pinksquirrel1scotch posted on Reddit about how their parents never let them put lights on the Christmas tree while they were growing up, claiming it to be a fire hazard. Apparently, during one of their parents' first Christmases together several years ago, their father had woken up from a nap on the couch to find the kitchen and living room filled with smoke. As he got his wife and their dog out of the house, he went into the house and came back with the Christmas tree wrapped in a blanket, saying that the tree had caught fire. But the story doesn't end there.

Following the incident, none of their children were permitted to light up the Christmas tree for years. Instead, Reddit user's mother used alternatives like glass balls and other reflective ornaments. Their parents repeated the same fire accident story every year when the kids asked about the lights. But when the individual grew up and the same story came up, their mom revealed the real reason behind the 'no lights' tradition. "What happened was, my dad decided to fix himself something on the stove late at night. He fell asleep on the couch with the pan still on the hot burner and it eventually began to smoke, waking him up," they wrote. "After he got my mom out of the house and realized what caused the smoke, rather than take the tongue lashing about the ruined pan and irresponsible stove use, he decided to pin the blame on the tree."

Though the husband dramatically staged a lie and tried to convince his wife, she found out the truth pretty quickly as she found the ruined pan in the kitchen trash can. "She could have nailed him to the wall right then and there, but she decided to play the long game and didn't say a word," u/1pinksquirrel1scotch revealed. Knowing that her husband liked the Christmas lights a lot, the wife decided to make him pay. Every year, she reminded him not to put up the lights because of the fire hazard and the stubborn husband went along with it rather than come clean about his kitchen mishap. "She did eventually tell him that she knew the truth, some 30 years later. He had developed cancer and it was his last Christmas, so she decided to come clean. He just laughed and laughed about it," they concluded.

Despite finally realizing his wife's petty revenge, the husband chose to celebrate his last Christmas without the lights on the tree. The story got the internet cracking up while also getting people emotional. "I love how your mom lit him up, ever so gently, every year after the incident. He only had to come clean with her to get the lights back on the tree, just maybe a little too prideful to do so. Great story and the perfect time of the year for it!" commented u/baka-tari. "You got me at first! I was waiting for a moment to be mad at your mom, but I just couldn’t do anything other than laugh at the end. Pretty epic. Except maybe depriving the kids of lights on the tree, but then I would say your dad was really to blame for that one. Great story!" wrote u/CeeMomster. "Never thought petty revenge could be this heartwarming and heart-aching at the same time," wrote u/willowgrl.