Internet Backs Partner for 'Spraying Water' in Wife's Face to Wake Her Up

The internet is rallying around a Redditor, who after putting up with multiple early morning alarms decided to spray water in their wife's face.

The Reddit post relaying the situation, titled, "AITA for spraying water in my wife's face to wake her up," has been upvoted 8,000 times since it was shared on May 3 in the subreddit "Am I The A**hole."

According to Statista, a YouGov poll found that only one in seven people in the United States wakes up "feeling fresh" every day during a given week. In addition, 45 percent of respondents that slept seven to eight hours a night felt "tired and fatigued" up to three times in a given week.

Redditor @Ycandance revealed their wife "sleeps like a rock" at night, and she gets in a "very deep sleep" in which she can't be disturbed. Even when the couple's twins were babies, the original poster's (OP) wife wouldn't hear them crying at night.

This trait didn't bother the OP until quite recently when their wife chose to wake up early each day as a form of a "self-care routine." According to the Redditor, their wife sets up numerous alarms to go off every 10 minutes, occurring between the hours of 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.

The OP explained: "She doesn't hear any of them. I, however, am awake since the first alarm at 5 a.m. I wake her up, and I can't fall back asleep, so I toss and turn until I have to get up for work. She doesn't wake up immediately after I talk to her. I have to shake her and talk to her constantly until she's up, and I don't mind doing that at 7 a.m., but 5 a.m. is simply cruel! This has been going on for two weeks, and I am exhausted."

Recently, the Redditor decided they had enough, and when the first alarm went off that morning, the OP took their water bottle and used it to spray water on their partner's face. The OP's wife was immediately awake, and she turned off the alarm.

"She didn't say anything, so I did it again this morning," the OP revealed. "She's apparently furious because it's extremely rude to splash her with water, not once but twice. I think it's also extremely rude to keep me sleep deprived, but she disagrees."

The Redditor also had a few updates to add since the original post. They revealed their wife hasn't been to a doctor over the situation, and it hasn't bothered either of them before. It was mentioned in the comments that it could be a symptom of ADHD, which he confirmed his wife has.

The OP revealed that "separate rooms seem to be our solution," and that although they had spoken about the OP disliking being up "too early," the OP never "warned" their wife about the water, and they "didn't think" the action through.

In a recent update, the OP told their wife she was now "internet famous," and she even read some comments on the Reddit post.

"She doesn't want to go to a doctor, but she agreed that waking up at 5 a.m. wasn't sustainable," the OP concluded. "She's going to switch her self-care routine to 8 a.m. She apologized, I apologized, and we've avoided torturing each other."

Over 1,100 comments poured in over the post, and the majority believed the OP wasn't the a**hole in the situation. Although not everyone agreed, many people were backing the OP's choice to spray water on their partner's face.

One comment garnered 11,000 upvotes on its own, and the Redditor believed the OP isn't at fault. "The brief discomfort she feels from a little splash of water does not hold a candle to that of being woken up every day at 5 a.m. and having to sit through an hour of nonstop blaring alarms," they said. "Jesus, I would die."

A Redditor believed that "sleep is holy," and the OP's wife's "bulls**t is killing" theirs. They thought she gets one snooze opportunity, but then "she is going to get the splash."

"Hours of alarms, because you don't have the discipline to get the f**k up is just about the most selfish thing imaginable," they added.

Some people brought up sleep issues associated with ADHD. According to the Sleep Foundation, 25 to 50 percent of people with ADHD have sleep issues, which can vary from insomnia to secondary sleep conditions. A number of individuals with ADHD have problems waking in the morning due to inadequate sleep the night previously.

"People with ADHD often have sleep problems = sh**ty and/or insufficient sleep = harder to get up," a Redditor pointed out.

Another Redditor suggested the OP explain to their wife that "she needs to sleep on the couch until she agrees to see a sleep therapist. That is not normal sleep behavior."

While yet another Reddit user believed the OP wasn't at fault, mentioning that water seems to be the thing that works to wake up the OP's wife quickly, which is what she wants to do.

"So, it's water to the face or she gives up on the self-care routine," they added. "She can't have it both ways at your expense."

Another user reasoned that if it's the only way to wake her up, the OP isn't left with many options. "It is unfair to expect you to needlessly wake up early and endure an hour of buzzing alarms," they said. "She either decides to wake up at a normal time or enjoy an early morning spritz."

Redditor @Ycandance told Newsweek: "Well I never expected this silly argument in our marriage to get this much attention. To clarify, we have a good marriage and we both know each other well and work with our quirks. I always thought sleeping like the dead was just another one of my wife's quirks, I got used to [waking] her up myself and her lack of hearing during her sleep never seemed like an issue to me. We resolved this argument, but I'll have her try an Apple Watch alarm to see if she can wake up alone."

This isn't the only viral moment involving couples. The internet slammed a man for ordering his wife to make him dinner at 2 a.m. In addition, people were dragging a wife for not giving her husband alone time with his friends. The internet also backed a woman who wouldn't let their stepson "honor" his deceased mother at her upcoming wedding to his father.

Updated 05/05/2022, 11:22 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from Redditor @Ycandance.