A grandmother has revealed her heartbreak after discovering her own son and daughter-in-law had hidden the birth of their newborn son, just so they could have some alone time.
The woman, who is being criticised online, was desperate to host a welcome home party for her grandbaby, but was gutted when her daughter-in-law said she just wanted a couple of weeks at home alone with her baby before introducing him to the family.
“When my daughter-in-law was pregnant, I suggested that I host a welcoming party for my grandson right after she gets discharged from the hospital. I made arrangements and even emptied a room for them to stay but for some reason, she was against it and said she’d rather spend the first few weeks at home with her newborn,” the woman told Reddit’s AITA forum.
“Not only that but she said no to the welcoming party. My husband and I talked to my son and he said ‘we’ll see.'”
However, a few days ago, she and her husband discovered that their daughter-in-law had actually given birth two weeks ago but decided not to tell anyone about it so they could have their alone time.
“My nephew told me and I immediately called my son who confirmed it. He and his wife lied then hid the date of birth from the family. I told him this was not acceptable, lying just because they didn’t want a welcoming party and love and support being given from family,” she continued.
“I told him I was disappointed because he ruined our welcoming for our grandbaby and also, I invited family members and they’re all rightfully disappointed as well.”
The woman’s son told her it was a “last resort” after she continuously pushed and made him and his wife uncomfortable about having the welcoming party.
“We had an argument and he ended the call upon saying I ruined his joy for his newborn. He is now is threatening to block my nephew for tattling but I think that my nephew was decent enough to inform the family, otherwise God knows how long my son and his wife were going to hide their son just to keep us at arm’s length,” she wrote.
“We’ve always been kind and welcoming to my daughter-in-law and her family, I don’t why she would do this and disrespect the family like that. On the other hand, some family members see it as a justified action because we insisted on the party.”
The woman turned to Reddit to question whether she was the a**hole in the situation and, to her surprise, other Reddit users unanimously agreed she was out of line.
One wrote: “Welcoming party is a nice way of saying ‘exposing a newborn to all sorts of diseases during a pandemic.’ You are NOT entitled to put this child in danger.”
“This post is psychotic. What new and young mother wants to come home from the hospital and immediately be thrown into a party with her in-laws???” another added.
“You need to chill the f*** out or you’ll be posting here in a few months asking why your son has no contact with you.”