Being a parent is great, but for many being a grandparent is the ultimate treat.

You get to love, treat and have fun with the kid, without having to be responsible for the day to day routines and challenges – and what could be better than that?

So when the couple in this story had a child, it was no surprise that the baby’s grandparents wanted to spend all the time they could with their new grandchild.

But one unexpected factor made this more difficult for everyone involved.

Read on to find out what happened.

AITA for not wanting to purchase baby furniture for my in laws?

I am a 31-year-old woman, and my husband is 36. We had our first child just under a year ago.

My mother- and father-in-law were older parents. They adopted my husband in their late thirties.

They both come from huge families and are over the moon to finally have a grandchild.

They asked to watch our kiddo one day a week while we are at work. To be clear, we do not need them to, they asked if they could.

But this generous offer caused the new parents some concern.

To provide context, they are now in their seventies and slowing down.

Meanwhile, our baby is now walking, eating solids, and taking two naps per day.

My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s/dementia, and while she is still in a functioning phase, she does need reminders.

They are both retired and on a fixed income. Their home is five to seven minutes away from our home.

Let’s see how this new mom is working with her in-laws on the childcare situation.

I already bring all baby supplies for them each week: diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, meals, toys, books, extra clothes, changing pad, etc. However, my in-laws have started asking us to provide them with baby furniture to keep at their house.

They have asked us to buy them a wagon to be able to tote our baby around outside (a 30lb baby is hard for them to carry around their yard) and a highchair so they can feed him since he’s too wiggly for them to feed on their laps.

They currently have a pack’n’play, but want us to replace it with a crib because they have trouble bending over it to lay the baby down for naps.

They also want a car seat so they can take “field trips” (they are mall walkers and want to take baby with them).

However, this mom really doesn’t want to provide all these extra items.

Here’s my problem: they only watch him one day a week and they want us to purchase all of these items – which aren’t cheap – to leave at their home.

I already load and unload a ton of supplies at each home when I drop off/pick up. I also have already provided toys, books, blankets, and baby proofing supplies for their home.

Also, with my mother-in-law’s diagnosis, I don’t see them watching baby without us much longer.

My father-in-law is already struggling to support his wife while also watching a very mobile baby.

So she sought to find a solution that would keep everyone happy.

As a compromise, I suggested they stay with the baby at our home during the day.

It’s comfortable, has all the baby supplies they could need, we have a cleaner come by once a week, lots of food and snacks in the fridge, and all of the same tv channels that they have.

Plus, I could leave the car seat instead of having to purchase a second one or load it in and out of my car in the morning.

Read on to find out how her in-laws reacted to this suggestion.

But they are so against this, which doesn’t make any sense to me and quite frankly, I’m frustrated.

We live on a very tight budget and they want us to buy them basically a whole nursery.

They also have specific requests for the type of furniture they want (lightweight, foldable or compact, easy to breakdown for when it’s not in use the rest of the week, items that will grow with baby so they can use it for a long time, etc.

It’s all left her in a bit of a sticky situation.

Am I wrong for not wanting to purchase these things, and insisting that they should watch him at our home?

I’m scraping together money currently to purchase shoes and winter clothing for the baby, while they are pressuring us hard for these items.

AITA?

It’s understandable that her in-laws want to spend regular time with their grandchild, particularly considering her mother-in-law’s deteriorating health condition.

But it does suck that they’re pressuring her to buy all this new stuff, which she really can’t afford.

Clearly they need to come to a compromise that will suit everyone, whilst taking both her baby’s and her mother-in-law’s health and welfare into consideration.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit thought about this.

Most Redditors warned that it might not be appropriate for her in-laws to be caring for the baby an more.

And others explained how quickly her mother-in-law’s condition can progress.

Meanwhile, this person urged them to make the time the grandparents spent with the baby fun, not a chore.

Given her condition, it makes sense that this woman’s mother-in-law wants to spend as much time with her grandson as possible, and her father-in-law is likely just trying to make the best of the situation.

They’ve waited a long time to be grandparents, and it’s great that they get to spend this time with the baby.

But it’s also clear that caring for the child – despite it being in their wishes – is putting extra strain on them at a time when they really don’t need it.

And it’s about to put a big financial strain on their daughter-in-law too.

It’s sad, but they need to come to a compromise.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.