Trying to keep both sides of the family happy as parents can be extremely exhausting.

In this story, a couple finally booked their dream honeymoon after six years of waiting. Since their son already spends tons of time with the wife’s mother, who lives nearby, leaving him there felt like the easiest option for everyone involved.

But then, the husband’s mother asked if the boy could stay with her instead.

And that’s where things started to get complicated.

Keep reading to see why they chose not to go with her idea.

AITAH for not letting my son stay with my in-laws during our honeymoon?

My husband and I have a 6-year-old son.

We got married during COVID, while I was pregnant, so we never got a honeymoon.

We’ve been saving for years and finally booked an 8-day trip for this summer, and we’re really excited since we haven’t gone anywhere alone (not kid-related) in 6 years.

Our son is going to stay with my mom, who lives 5 minutes away and sees him all the time.

Then, her MIL came up with a plan.

My MIL and FIL moved a few states away when my son was first born due to the cost of living and to be closer to her parents. So they don’t see him nearly as often.

When we told my MIL about the trip, she asked where our son would be staying.

We told her with my mom.

She seemed kind of off about it. She’s always been a bit sensitive/jealous that my mom spends more time with him, but she lives nearby, so we can’t do anything about that.

The next day, she called and asked if our son could stay with her for the week. She said she could take time off work, and it would be a great chance for her, my FIL, and my husband’s grandparents to bond with him, especially since it’s summer.

They needed time to think.

We asked how we’d get him there, and she suggested we drive 5 hours to drop him off, change our flights to leave from their local airport, leave our car there, and have her drive us to/from the airport.

She also said if absolutely necessary, she might be able to drive up to get him and bring him back after we return.

We told her we’d think about it.

After talking it over, it just felt like a lot. Driving him there would add basically two extra days of travel/logistics to our trip. Also, we asked our son how he felt about it, and he said he didn’t want to go because he doesn’t know them very well and would rather stay with my mom.

Her MIL did not take the news well.

So we told her we really appreciated the offer, but we were going to stick with our original plan because it would make things less hectic.

She did not take it well.

She said we’re preventing her from bonding with her grandson, accused us of always favoring my mom, and then hung up. We haven’t heard from her since.

Now I just feel guilty, and it kind of put a damper on something we were so excited about.

AITA?

Ouch. It’s easy to see why the grandmother is so upset, but it does sound like a lot of extra travel.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tenant who called the landlord after they hadn’t seen or heard their neighbor in days.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit think about the whole situation.

Here’s a grandma’s opinion.

According to this comment, they should stick to their plans.

Excellent point.

For this person, the MIL was wrong for even asking.

This is the kind of situation that can happen when family lives far away, especially with young kids involved.

The MIL clearly wants more time with her grandson, and it makes sense that watching the other grandmother see him constantly would feel disappointing. Yet at the same time, she also seems to put very little effort into actually building that relationship.

On the other hand, the parents made the choice that felt the most comfortable for both their child and their plans. And once their son agreed with that plan, the discussion was over.

Ultimately, if she wants to spend more time with her grandson, she needs to try harder.