Some grandparents are basically sent here from heaven - they take care of the kid, respect parents' boundaries, and are just overall nice human beings. But if some are from heaven, others are here straight from hell, as they are direct opposites of them.
Well, the grandma from today's story was more similar to the second type of grandparents. She not only dismissed a very meaningful parents' boundary by saying it's nonsense, but she also made them out to be villains for enforcing it in the first place.
While some grandparents are meant to be good ones, others are just not cut out for it
Image credits: koldunova_anna / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Like this lady, who couldn't adhere to the simplest rule her grandson's parents enforced
Image credits: coryhotline
Image credits: lenblr / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Basically, they wanted everyone to not kiss their newborn, who has spent some time in the NICU
Image credits: user18526052 / Freepik (not the actual photo)
They just didn't want to risk his health and it's not like staying away from kissing a baby is such a hard thing to do
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / Freepik (not the actual photo)
But apparently it was for his grandmother, who kept trying to do it whenever she had a chance
Image credits: coryhotline
When parents called her out, she threw a massive tantrum and ended up cutting them out of her life
When the OP’s kid was a newborn, he spent 12 weeks in the NICU. Luckily, he recovered and was allowed to be brought home. Yet, it didn’t mean that he didn’t need to be a little more careful about himself – after all, it was proven that his health was quite fragile.
So, one of the ways the parents ensured his safety was with the “no kissing rule” that everyone had to adhere to. But apparently, the grandma, dad’s mom, thought she was excluded from this rule. And so, she kept trying to give little pecks to a baby, despite parents begging her to stop.
So, in order to make her comply, they decided to threaten her that she won’t be able to babysit her grandson ever if she can’t keep up with such a simple boundary. This simple threat sent her over the edge and she switched up on them quickly. MIL started telling everyone what a horrible son she has, and that wasn’t even the extent of it.
She also started blaming his wife for everything, even for things that didn’t even happen. She said that the wife was pressuring her son to cut off his mom, accused her of being rude, said the OP was making stuff about her kissing the baby, and all that kind of nasty stuff.
In the end, she decided that she wanted to cut them off herself, as they kept making “nonsensical” rules. And all of this drama happened because the parents simply asked her not kiss a 5-week-old baby that spent some time in the NICU.
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Of course, on one hand, a desire to cuddle a baby can be understandable – our brains are wired to feel this kind of response to cute younglings. And it can be beneficial to them, as this kind of love expression promotes brain development.
At the same time, factors like a baby's health must be taken into account, too. The thing is that newborn babies have underdeveloped immune systems, which makes them particularly susceptible to infections. Even if the infection seems mild in an adult, it can be severe for an infant.
For instance, if someone has herpes virus, but doesn’t show symptoms at the moment, they can still pass the virus onto a baby, simply due to how weak their immunity is. And so, cursing a child to have cold sores for the rest of their lives – ask anyone who has them – it sucks!
In the case of the baby in today’s story, it’s likely that his immunity is even weaker than on average. After all, he spent some time in the NICU, and babies are placed there when they struggle with some kind of severe health problems straight out of the womb. Granted, they can be fully treated by them, but the immune system can still be weakened for a while.
So, it’s fully understandable that his parents didn’t want anyone compromising his health with kisses. What’s not understandable is the MIL’s reaction to such an easily understandable rule. Well, as netizens implied, maybe a couple dodged a bullet by being cut off by her – ultimately, she doesn’t seem like a nice person to be around.
Do you agree with them? Or would you beg MIL to take you back if you were in the OP’s place? Please, share all your takes in the comments!
Netizens said that the parents might have dodged a bullet with this, as she doesn't seem like the most trustworthy grandma out there
