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Step-Grandma Sneaks Baby To Santa While Watching Him, Loses Babysitting Privileges Forever
The holidays are coming, and so are all the conflicts that your family may have been avoiding throughout the year.
A new mother turned to Reddit to ask its users for advice after her father’s fiancée came to babysit her son, but ended up crossing important boundaries.
The lady took the boy to a mall to meet Santa for the first time in his life, even though the parents had explicitly told her they were looking forward to sharing that moment themselves.
RELATED:
Meeting Santa for the first time is one of our core memories
Image credits: MaplesImages / envato (not the actual photo)
But this woman said her dad’s fiancée deliberately took her son to the mall, making sure she would be the one to introduce him to Santa
Image credits: Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SantaVisitThrow
As many as 2 in 5 families fight over the holidays
According to a survey from last year, nearly 40% of families get into open disagreements throughout the holiday season. The research also revealed that a significant portion of these conflicts erupt during the holiday gatherings themselves.
Topics that cause the most trouble usually are:
- Politics (34%)
- Past grievances (32%)
- Relationships (25%)
- Finances (25%)
And it’s not like things get easily brushed off, either. The stakes can be very high, as nearly 20% of respondents indicated that holiday conflicts have prompted a family member to revisit or adjust their estate plans.
After posting the story, the mom joined the discussion in the comment section
Most people who read about what happened said it wasn’t her fault
A few, however, felt she overreacted
Later, the woman shared an update on how her father tried to make things right
Image credits: Nicole Michalou / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SantaVisitThrow
While moms and dads may look to their own parents for advice and help with raising their kids, disagreements are fairly common
Image credits: Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo)
A study from C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that almost half of parents report conflicts with grandparents over parenting choices.
The survey looked at more than 2,000 responses from parents with kids aged 18 and under. Among those whose children see their grandparents often or occasionally, 37 percent reported having minor disagreements over parenting styles, and 15 percent said their disagreements had a negative effect on the relationship between their children and their grandparents.
More specifically, the study found that 40 percent of parents felt grandparents were too soft on the kids, while 14 percent said they were too strict.
The most common areas of conflict were discipline (57 percent), meals and snacks (44 percent), TV and screen time (36 percent), manners (27 percent), health and safety (25 percent), treating some grandchildren differently than others (22 percent), bedtime (21 percent), and sharing photos or other information on social media (10 percent).
“Grandparents play a special role in the lives of many children and can be an important resource for parents through support, advice and babysitting. But they may have different ideas about the best way to raise the child and that can cause tension,” Sarah Clark, M.P.H., Mott Poll co-director and research scientist with the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center, or CHEAR, said in a press release.
“If grandparents contradict or interfere with parenting choices, it can have a serious strain on the relationship. Parents may feel that their parental authority is undermined when grandparents are too lenient in allowing children to do things that are against family rules, or when grandparents are too strict in forbidding children to do things that parents have okayed.”
The mother once again shared more information in the comments
And most people agreed that she handled it the right way
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What do you think ?
Emilu 1 hour ago
I don't have kids, so I imagine my opinion probably doesn't count, but I feel like no babysitting entirely seems a bit nuclear? I mean, OP knows now what her father's partner is like. Maybe if she and her partner celebrated all the firsts they can before letting her babysit again, but realistically, they're still likely to miss something, especially if the kid goes to daycare. Logically the amount of time the average kid spends at daycare, realistically some 'firsts' will happen there; just the daycare workers probably won't tell OP about them to 'keep it special'. So what's worse? OP's father's partner doing a 'first' with bub (that he won't remember) but letting the couple know, or not finding out that a first has happened? But what do I know; I don't have kids 🤷🏽♀️
BoredPangolin 1 hour ago
Yeah, I am raising my kids with no grandparents on either side. She's going to change her mind about babysitting real quick. The incident was annoying, but nothing you can't talk through and nothing dangerous. Nothing worth cutting off her son from the love and support of grandparents.
marianne eliza 2 hours ago
What a tempest in a teacup. The baby will never remember this incident, unless OP carries a grudge into baby's older years. I think OP had built it up so much in her dreams that she's overreacting.
Binky Melnik 39 minutes ago
It’s not baby’s “memory” OP’s concerned about but hers, and sooo many commenters agreed that her “first” was “stolen.” Can anyone explain this to me? Nothing was “stolen”; OP and her husband got to take the kid to meet Santa for the first time. So what if some d******k also did it? It was still the first time for OP and husband. Why all the agita over it? Yes, the taking the kid out of the house was very uncool, but the first time meeting Santa with their baby? They still got to do it! I’d be grateful if someone can explain to me as if I’m a shot bus-rider why that was so awful. No need to explain why Dad napping was bad; that I got. Thanks!
Load More Replies... Emilu 1 hour ago
I don't have kids, so I imagine my opinion probably doesn't count, but I feel like no babysitting entirely seems a bit nuclear? I mean, OP knows now what her father's partner is like. Maybe if she and her partner celebrated all the firsts they can before letting her babysit again, but realistically, they're still likely to miss something, especially if the kid goes to daycare. Logically the amount of time the average kid spends at daycare, realistically some 'firsts' will happen there; just the daycare workers probably won't tell OP about them to 'keep it special'. So what's worse? OP's father's partner doing a 'first' with bub (that he won't remember) but letting the couple know, or not finding out that a first has happened? But what do I know; I don't have kids 🤷🏽♀️
BoredPangolin 1 hour ago
Yeah, I am raising my kids with no grandparents on either side. She's going to change her mind about babysitting real quick. The incident was annoying, but nothing you can't talk through and nothing dangerous. Nothing worth cutting off her son from the love and support of grandparents.
marianne eliza 2 hours ago
What a tempest in a teacup. The baby will never remember this incident, unless OP carries a grudge into baby's older years. I think OP had built it up so much in her dreams that she's overreacting.
Binky Melnik 39 minutes ago
It’s not baby’s “memory” OP’s concerned about but hers, and sooo many commenters agreed that her “first” was “stolen.” Can anyone explain this to me? Nothing was “stolen”; OP and her husband got to take the kid to meet Santa for the first time. So what if some d******k also did it? It was still the first time for OP and husband. Why all the agita over it? Yes, the taking the kid out of the house was very uncool, but the first time meeting Santa with their baby? They still got to do it! I’d be grateful if someone can explain to me as if I’m a shot bus-rider why that was so awful. No need to explain why Dad napping was bad; that I got. Thanks!
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