Mama bears, more than papa bears, are very protective of their cubs because they are well aware how cruel the world can be. Just like humans, but when kids grow up, parents need to loosen their hold on all their “protective instincts” and let them live, right?
This man felt annoyed about how his mom always acted overprotective even when he turned into an adult. That’s why he didn’t want his parents to be too involved with his kid, but this rule didn’t apply to his wife’s parents. When his mom found this out, it just sparked massive family drama!
More info: Reddit
Once kids grow up, parents should realize that being overprotective of them causes more problems
Image credits: senivpetro / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Growing up, the poster's parents had a lot of difficulty respecting his boundaries as they were extremely overprotective of him
Image credits: anonymous
Image credits: pch.vector / Freepik (not the actual photo)
He found this very annoying, so when he had a baby, he told them point blank that they will only be involved if he needs and to respect his wishes
Image credits: anonymous
Image credits: zinkevych / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Although the same rule didn't apply to his in-laws, as he thinks they are not overprotective and have more experience when it comes to kids
Image credits: anonymous
During family BBQ, when his mom found out about it, she felt really bad that he was doing this to them, and sulked throughout dinner
Beware, dear readers, for today’s story has already sparked a massive debate among Redditors and might do the same amongst you. The thing is, the original poster (OP) tells us that his parents were overprotective when he was growing up, since he’s their only child. They never even respected his boundaries and his mom had a hard time letting him make mistakes.
This over-involvement and overprotectiveness caused many problems for him and they had many fights over it. He tried to clarify that he’s now an adult and she needs to stop doing that and respect his wishes, but it never seemed to stop. When he had a son, he straight-out told his parents that they need to back off and only help him when he asks for it.
They reluctantly agreed, but he left the decision about his in-laws’ involvement completely up to his wife. He feels that they are not overprotective, and have more experience when it comes to babies since they have 4 children. He found this arrangement fair until they all met for BBQ and his parents noticed how involved his in-laws were with the baby, and confronted him.
He told them the truth, and while his dad took it pretty well, his mom got very hurt by this. She sulked the entire time after that, which made OP feel really guilty about it. Although he still didn’t want her involved in parenting his kid, he didn’t know how to tell her, so he vented online, and boy-oh-boy were netizens divided by his story.
Image credits: HMJ Digitals / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Many folks felt that the poster was absolutely right to decide who gets to be in his kid’s life, especially if his parents are really as overinvolved as he says. Now, experts suggest that overprotecting kids can actually be bad for their mental health, as it literally robs them of their individuality and makes them overdependent.
It’s obvious that OP doesn’t want the same thing to happen to his child that has already happened to him. Many netizens said that his mom sounds quite problematic as she never understands that she needs to respect his boundaries. They argued that she will act the same way with his son, and it’s her own fault that he’s not letting her help with the kid.
Speaking about the other side of the coin, people felt that he was being extra harsh with his parents, and denying them the joy of their only grandkid. It has been observed that a healthy relationship with grandparents helps in the well-being of children. Folks said that he was taking this away from his own son, while also hurting his parents.
They also expressed that they understood that his mom sounded like a lot to take in, but what his in-laws were doing were basic things, and there was no harm in letting his mom do that. Well, it’s tough picking a side, isn’t it? Do you think there’s any common ground here? Also, if you were in OP’s shoes, what would you do? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
His story sparked a massive debate online as netizens were pitched against each other, fighting over whether what he did was right or not
