Isn’t it heartbreaking when you have to be a little harsh towards your family?

This story is a little tricky because this woman doesn’t want her mother to babysit her child. It’s not exactly that she doesn’t trust her mother with her baby. It’s more about her mother’s mobility issues.

Her mother is really upset, and now she’s wondering if she was too harsh.

Find out how things went down!

AITA for telling my mom she can’t watch my baby?

For backstory, I (33F) am pregnant with my first child.

My husband (34M) and I live in a major city where most people don’t have cars / drive.

They have a certain lifestyle…

We walk basically everywhere (or take the subway).

My mom, whom I love, (60F) is morbidly obese. She’s always been “bigger,” but in the past 10 years has gotten close to 400 lbs.

She can’t walk 2 city blocks without sitting, can’t do any stairs, and can’t really fly unless she buys two seats. She complains of pain whenever she has to carry things.

We’ve (my sisters and I) encouraged her to go to a doctor.

This is where it gets a little tricky…

The doctors and specialists all said her hormones are fine, it’s overeating and she needs to lose weight for health reasons.

My mom sneaks snacks and doesn’t eat healthy.

My husband and I live in a walk up. I’m due in June, and my mom asked if she can come up and help with the baby the first few weeks.

I said of course, all help is always appreciated.

Then she said that she would like my husband and I to have her as childcare for a few months instead of doing daycare (which we already have enrolled in).

She was being very insistent!

We told her we already have a daycare but appreciate the offer and she can come visit anytime.

My MIL is coming for a few weeks after my mom, and we told my mom she can come right after that again if she wants and we can book her flight for her.

She kept insisting, saying she would be better than a “random childcare person.”

We told her babies are a ton of work and she can come visit, but we don’t expect her to watch the baby full time.

She told us we were making a major mistake not taking her up on daycare.

UH OH!

She kept pushing it and said we’d regret not taking her up on her offer.

And I finally told her I don’t want her watching the baby because of her weight – if there is an emergency, she can’t take the baby on a walk or even get the stroller out of the house.

Our nursery is on the top floor, so I don’t think she could even get our baby up and down the stairs.

That’s BAD!

She started crying and said I hate her because she’s fat.

I told her that’s not true, but I have to think about in an emergency how she could help the baby, and that’s my first concern.

I love my mom, but I don’t think she physically could handle taking our baby out or up stairs.

Now she’s not speaking to me, and told my sister I “am embarrassed of her.” She also said I prefer my MIL because she’s thin (something I have never brought up and we aren’t using my MIL as daycare).

She isn’t sure about the situation…

I don’t think I was mean and wasn’t going to mention her weight until she pushed it.

But now I think I’m the jerk because my family is divided. AITA?

YIKES! That stings!

Why can’t the mother understand her physical limitations with babysitting?

Let’s find out what folks on Reddit think about this one.

This user knows that the truth can be hurtful but the mother needs to understand that it is what it is.

This user knows that the mother is in no condition to take care of a child.

Exactly! This user reassures her and tells her not to cave.

This user knows that her concerns are on point and she’s not wrong about anything here.

This user knows that the child’s safety comes first!

Grandma needs to accept her own limitations.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.