Babysitting grandkids usually feels like a blessing, but what happens when it’s not only expected but demanded?

In today’s story, a grandmother shares that her daughter keeps asking her and her husband to babysit every weekend, but it’s starting to interfere with their plans.

So she asked for monetary compensation, and her daughter was offended.

Who’s in the wrong?

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for not wanting to take care of my granddaughter for free?

My daughter decided to get married a year after finishing high school.

My husband and I didn’t understand that decision but she was totally convinced and so was her husband.

My daughter became a housewife (By her own decision) and got pregnant soon after, since her husband works she spent a lot of the pregnancy at my house, which did not seem like a problem to me.

Then my granddaughter was born and she kept coming often, which didn’t seem like a problem to me either.

But then she started leaving her baby longer and getting upset when I told her I can’t take care of her.

The dynamic changed.

I understand that being a mother is difficult, I raised four children, but that does not mean that everyone should be at my feet because of a decision I made.

My daughter started asking me on the weekends to babysit because she and her husband wanted to go out, I agreed for about three weeks until my husband and I had our own plans.

My daughter went crazy and called me to tell me that I should be more empathetic with her because she is a mother and never leaves the house.

I felt bad that day so my husband and I decided to babysit on the weekends, but to be honest, we’re tired.

They want to enjoy their free time.

We love our children? Yes.

But our plan at this age was to get back to being just us and go on dates together, we even had to delay our vacation because of our daughter.

We adore our daughter but she is now an adult and we don’t want to raise any children anymore.

We have other grandchildren who we love as well but we have never had this problem with my other children.

Not to mention, my granddaughter is now older and more active, caring for a newborn is one thing, but it’s totally different chasing a baby who has already learned to crawl.

And it’s a challenge for them, particularly.

My husband has a limp and I have a hard time bending over so it’s hard for us to take care of the baby.

I talked to my daughter about this and she complained saying it’s only two days a week, to which, to make a point, I said “Okay, then pay us like you pay the babysitter” (she hired a babysitter a few weeks ago).

I told her that at this point I feel that she only uses me as a free babysitter because lately she only comes to make me take care of the baby and that’s where my daughter went crazy, totally offended.

She refuses to pay them, but doesn’t treat them as family either.

Although it’s the truth, she doesn’t even come to dinner or to visit me, she just brings the baby for me to babysit and I feel used.

According to her it’s really horrible of me to want to charge her to take care of my own granddaughter, it made me wonder if she’s right.

No, my husband and I didn’t have anyone’s help raising our children.

I don’t know why so many young people believe that life used to be easy…

Years ago in my country, it was even frowned upon for a mother to leave her child in childcare and go to work.

Now it’s not easy to be a parent either, it never was.

AITA?

Her daughter does not sound mature enough to be raising another human being. But now she needs to be.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this.

Someone shares their experience.

Some tough love is needed here.

Yup.

Another reader shares their experience.

It’s a bit baffling.

Establishing boundaries will help everybody in the long term.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.