When someone threatens parents with calling CPS, it can definitely send them into a panic. However, data shows that in the U.S., up to 64.3% of maltreatment reports turn out to be unsubstantiated. Still, that doesn't stop family members from causing parents unnecessary stress and stirring up drama.
The kind of drama this "Hamburgler" stepmother unleashed on this young family is one for the ages. The wife shared their story online in a seven-part saga, and what started off as stolen food from the pantry and a call to CPS turned into a Hollywood-worthy thriller involving a golf club to a window, police, and a heartbreaking loss of a pregnancy.
A mother of two had to deal with her unhinged stepmom's threats to involve CPS
Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo)
It all started when she saw the parents as "unfit" because they had trouble getting groceries
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Polina Tankilevitch / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Darina Belonogova / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: petrichorluna
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Two years later, it turned out the husband wasn't the perfect loving man, either
In the "Hamburgler" saga, the woman's husband comes across as a caring, doting man. Perhaps he's not home that often because of his work, but many readers probably thought that she had a good anchor and source of support in him.
Sadly, that turned out to be false. After two years, the Redditor came back with another story, this time about what drove her to separate from her husband. Apparently, one evening, he threw a tantrum about dinner and almost got physically violent.
He didn't like the way she had prepared the meatloaf and started yelling at her. Then, as she went to check her blood sugar, he grew even angrier, claiming that she only has diabetes because it's convenient when they fight.
"He ripped the monitor from my hands and chucked it at the wall, busting it open," u/petrichorluna wrote. "While I stood there in shock, he threw away the case with all of my extra strips and lancets, then opened my glucose tablets and dumped them out in the trash too. He dumped out the meatloaf I had just spent hours making too."
The wife chose not to escalate the argument, finished her dinner, put the kids to sleep, and went to bed herself. "The next day was payday for me, and I spent every cent of my check on deposits for an apartment for me and my boys," the woman detailed.
As for the husband, he went to stay with his mother in another state. "The last couple weeks have been hard as hell, and he's been super nasty, and I'm still not even sure how to go about getting a divorce in Louisiana, but at least I don't live with someone who thinks I'm making up a disease I've had the entire time I've known him just so he doesn't scream at me about dinner," the Redditor wrote.
Image credits: RDNE Stock project / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Luckily, she was able to get away from him together with her children
In her last update three years ago, u/petrichorluna shared how she was able to get out of the marriage with full custody of her children. A few days after the violent incident, the woman went to the police with a recording of the whole ordeal from their kitchen security camera and pressed charges.
She didn't go into detail about what happened next, but later updated people that she's living with her two boys, divorced from her husband. "The kids and I are safe – the two-year-old is four now, and the big kid is about to turn 8. Life isn't super easy, but we're together and they know nothing but love."
She explained how there were always minor red flags in her husband's behavior; she just chose not to see them back then. "He didn't scream at me and he told me he loved me, he was wonderful and 'kind' even as he did everything he could to make me completely reliant on him."
"As our marriage progressed, things got steadily worse. This incident was the first time I was able to recognize what he was doing was [mistreatment], but when you look back there was always a pattern," the Redditor now sees clearly. "I've done a lot of healing and can recognize what I've been through."
Commenters urged the mom to hold her father accountable and rein in the evil stepmother
However, the father refused to believe his wife was capable of any of this, driving a wedge between him and his daughter
Image credits: JESSICA TICOZZELLI / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: petrichorluna
"Hopefully changing the locks would be enough to prevent her from trying again," invested commenters wrote
Then, the stepmother returned for a visit with the alleged CPS worker, which resulted in an explosive confrontation
Image credits: petrichorluna
"What an awful woman!" people reacted. "If she continues this she will end up in jail"
In her next mini update, the mom detailed how this wasn't the first time the rogue CPS worker crossed professional boundaries
Image credits: petrichorluna
The situation became worse after the woman visited her OB
Image credits: petrichorluna
After the stepmother found out, she went berserk and broke into the family's home again
Image credits: petrichorluna
In her last update, the woman discovered her stepmom didn't remain in jail
Image credits: petrichorluna
At least the dad finally had enough: "They're officially separated now"
