17 Stories About Grandparents Who Decided to Test the Patience of Their Children

Grandparents are certainly a good help in raising children. They can stay with kids while you can have a little rest or spend time on yourself. However, this can end quite unpredictably.

And in the bonus section, you'll find proof that grandfathers and grandchildren have their own, very special relationship.

• My mother-in-law thinks my son is a prodigy, and this is a big problem. When he called people he knew by their names when he was 1 year old, she realized that he was a real prodigy and that she needed to invest in him.
  Now he is 3 years old, he can do all the things that his peers can do, he is a normal child, but this is not enough for my mother-in-law. She thinks that he should already be able to read, write and recite old poetry, so she wants to transfer him to some kind of kindergarten for gifted children. I love and, of course, consider my son the best, but I fight with my mother-in-law in every possible way, because I would like to raise not a genius, but a happy person. © Mamdarinka / VK
• My son had a terrible rash from diapers. We consulted a pediatrician, put cloth diapers on him and started potty training him quite early. Now he is 3, he’s fully potty-trained. He has some (very) rare accidents, but only when he tries to delay his bathroom trips for too long.
  But my mother-in-law is always whining that he is still a baby, and he needs to wear diapers. Once I left my son with her for a couple of hours. And when I picked him up, my son started complaining about itching again. I didn’t realize what the reason was until bathing him in the evening. He was wearing a diaper.
  When confronted, my mother-in-law replied his accident was clear proof we’d made a mistake by potty training him early, and he should go back to wearing diapers for the time being. At no point did she apologize. My husband and I decided that my mother-in-law would no longer look after her grandson. © ThrwayMILDiaper / Reddit

• My daughters have dark curly hair. Since my mother-in-law's children had straight hair, she is not very good at braiding my girls' hair. I persistently ask her not to do it, because I have to redo it, and the girls complain that it hurts them. But my mother-in-law has some kind of competition with my mum. Moreover, she doesn't even try to learn, but just does it in her own way. In the end, I forbade her to touch my daughters' hair, and she made me look guilty in front of the rest of the family. © Unknown author / Reddit
• With the arrival of my daughter, my mother-in-law developed an obsession that we were not taking care of the baby properly. Many times I tried to delicately tell her that many of her methods are long outdated, and some can even cause harm, that I regularly consult with a pediatrician. But no, she comes to our house uninvited and starts making her own rules.
  But the worst thing was when my husband and I took her shopping with us, and she yelled at me loudly with everyone listening, to remember to wash my hands after the toilet. I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. © Chamber 6 / VK
• My mother-in-law has always been indifferent to her grandson. But when her granddaughter was born, she changed. She started to come more often and sit with the baby. I didn't pay attention to it.
  But one day my mother-in-law's sister, Aunt Gala, came to visit. She spent the night at our place. So in the morning, Aunt Gala was sitting and drinking tea, but was pale as a ghost. I asked her what happened. She said, "Be careful when your husband goes on a business trip," and told me a story.
  Once, my mother-in-law told her a terrific plan: when my husband is on a business trip, she wants to plant "evidence of a lover." Then a divorce will follow, and she will take my daughter by court action. And there will be a happy family: son, his mom and "granddaughter."
  I immediately called a locksmith and got the locks changed. I told my husband about this, but he didn't believe me. But I'm still worried. © Podslushano / VK

• My mother-in-law said over the phone in a sweet voice, “Bring my granddaughter to my country house, let the child eat berries, play in the sun, and you will have some rest.” We did. I called my daughter every day, everything was fine. A week later, my husband brought the child home, and she was wearing a headscarf.
  I took it off and there was no hair. My daughter was bald! I’m shaking and speeding to the country house. When I arrive, I immediately ask her what happened. And my mother-in-law said, in all seriousness, “Her hair was just fluff, I shaved it off carefully this morning, so now her hair will grow thicker.” I was swearing at her so loudly that she ran into the house in tears and shut herself in.
  My daughter had to wear a cap, but in the camp, other children ridiculed her. So, I had to take her home after 3 days. My daughter cried when she looked in the mirror. I was heartbroken. I had to order an expensive wig made of natural hair for school. My mother-in-law will never see the child again. © Podslushano / VK
• My daughter decided to leave my own granddaughter with me for the first time. She said it’s just for one day, no more. She and her husband will sort out things at work and immediately come to take the child. She was so worried and anxious that she made me anxious too.
  She left a whole list of rules and information on how I should act. Just in case, I am a teacher with experience of more than 20 years in school, and also I always babysit the daughter of my eldest son. But my daughter says that none of these counts, “It’s not like school, mom, what if something happens!” © Chamber 6 / VK
• We were all out to brunch over the weekend and my little one was fussy, so my husband took him, so I could eat. My mother-in-law said, “Just give him water!” And we all said, “No, you don’t do that.”
  Today was her first day babysitting, he’s not even 2 months and I only needed her for 3 hours. I came to pick him up, and she had given him 4 ounces of water. I had to go to the hospital. It was nothing serious, but the doctors said it was difficult for him to digest water. © chateaudechelsea / Reddit

• My mother-in-law is always trying to feed my 2.5-year-old daughter. Even when we say she's already eaten. One time, my daughter ran into my bedroom and said, "Grandma gave me yogurt and cookies. Shh, don’t tell Mama!"
  I went to ask her, but the mother-in-law was like, "No, I didn't give her anything." I guess they were asking my daughter to lie to me about the "extra" snack. As a result, my husband once snapped, had a fight with his mother about it. And I don't know what to do now. © Lookatthatmoon / Reddit
• I stopped communicating with my mother. As a child, she made me eat, and as an adult I learned all the "benefits" of an eating disorder. I barely managed to get my diet back on track with a therapist. When my daughter was born, my mother was quiet at first, then started her own shenanigans: she would bring fatty pies, overcooked vegetables, apple juice strained through gauze. She demanded to eat it all. I threw it away, we have a different, balanced diet.
  One day my mother came to visit, I was working in another room and heard her say her trademark words to my daughter who was having dinner, “You can’t leave the table until you’ve eaten all your food.” I started yelling at her, frightened the child, and told her that if she ever said a word about food again, she would never see her granddaughter again. In the end, my mother felt offended and left, since then we haven't communicated. © Podslushano / VK
• My 3-year-old son began to eat badly. I could barely manage to persuade him to eat porridge or sausages. I was already thinking of going to see a doctor, but suddenly my mother-in-law said that at home her grandson ate perfectly well and snacked on fruit.
  I decided to check on her and found fried meat with herbs, potatoes, pickles, a whole jar of condensed milk and chocolate cake on the table. I was shocked because at family get-togethers my mother-in-law usually cooks homemade delicious low-calorie food. I asked her why she was giving this food to a 3-year-old, and she replied, "Well, he wants it." © Mamdarinka / VK

• My mom has been scaring me lately. She has started to mistreat my eldest son in order to please the whims of my youngest daughter. She never used to do this before, but lately she has been constantly attacking her grandson, "Give in, give it to her, you are older, she is little." When I'm at home, I interfere. So my mother hugs her granddaughter and says that I don't love the little one, and they sob together.
  My husband has a temper, he forbade her to come. It's hard for me, I see how my mom suffers, but I have to support my husband, because I value the mental health of my children. They lived amicably, but after what my mother did, they started to quarrel constantly, and my daughter always throws tantrums at me and my husband, saying that we don't love her. © Podslushano / VK
• I, my husband, child and mother-in-law went to the amusement park. I said my little one couldn't drink a butter drink. But as soon as I turned away for a second, my mother-in-law persistently tried to give the baby this nasty stuff. And she just pretended not to hear my protests.
  This repeated several times, until my husband said, "Enough!" His mother was like, "Why not?" To which the husband replied sharply, "Because I said so." And then he threw the drink away. There was an awkward silence. And I still can't figure out why she can't hear me at all. © ThrowRAThrowRA90 / Reddit
• I was once visiting my grandparents in the countryside. By my own carelessness, I broke my grandmother's favorite saucer. It was from an expensive set. Naturally, my grandmother scolded me, I even stood in the corner a little.
  Grandpa didn't like it, so a few days later he took the whole set, we went to the forest together, where I could break anything I wanted. Grandpa had to face the music from Grandma then, but it was important to him that his granddaughter was happy. © Caramel / VK

• I'm raising my daughter alone, my husband died. I was left with loans, and I was working like crazy. My husband's mother helped me out with my daughter, and was very fond of the child. After 6 years, I paid off the loans and began to spend more time with my child.
  But the grandmother realized that she was no longer number 1 for my daughter and started to turn her against me. I tell my daughter she needs to study, and the mother-in-law sweet-talks that she is already smart, she can rest. I say that it's too much to eat 2 chocolates at a time, and the mother-in-law gives her 3. And on this contrast, my daughter began to treat her grandmother better, and at 16 she went to live with her.
  I was hurt, but decided to get busy with work. I went to another country to work as a nurse. My daughter hardly ever called me, and even when I tried to talk to her, she just avoided me.
  And then she called recently, crying: exams are coming up, she's come to her senses, but it's too late, she can't do anything. She was screaming, blaming me, demanding money, tutors. I feel sorry for them, but I think everyone is the blacksmith of their own happiness. © Chamber 6 / VK
• We left the child to my mother-in-law, but didn't leave immediately and were sitting in the car with my husband arguing. And then suddenly we see that she goes out with the baby, sits in the driver's seat of her car, her grandson sitting on her lap and starts the car. She didn't see us, I shouted at her, "Pull over right now!" And the mother-in-law was like, "Oh, you haven't left yet?"
  I jumped out of the car, grabbed the baby. She started to whine that they were not travelling far and that nothing could happen to the baby on her lap. But I was adamant - I won't trust her with the baby anymore. © beepincheech / Reddit
• I left my 4-year-old son with my mother-in-law. She calls me in the evening and tells me she's lost him. My life has flashed before my eyes, it's a long drive to get there.
  My mother-in-law didn't answer the phone anymore. I called the neighbor, who ran to look for them. Soon she called me back.
  It turned out that my son was tired of walking and decided to go to the shop. He took some juice, but had no money, so the sales assistant started looking for his parents. At that moment, the grandmother arrived and returned the fugitive to her chambers. I'm shocked by the carelessness of my mother-in-law. © Mamdarinka / VK

Bonus: grandparents and grandchildren are just beautiful together

• My father-in-law found out that his daughter and I were having a baby, his first grandchild. He congratulated us, and then said seriously, "It's time," and left. We didn't know where he was going, so just decided it was one of his quirks. And then we came out of the house, and there was my father-in-law.
  He was playing chess in the company of other old gentlemen, who play there in any weather. I asked him, "Why did you leave so suddenly?" And he answered, "I couldn't wait to get down to my grandfather matters." I wonder what else he has on his "grandfather to-do list." © Chamber 6 / VK
• My grandfather was a chief engineer at a factory. All his life he worked, without holidays or sick leave. For as long as I can remember, my grandfather has often worked with some papers. And on the day of my 18th birthday, my grandfather gives me the keys to an apartment! And then the other 5 grandchildren suddenly get the keys too!
  We are shocked, our parents are shocked, and the grandfather solemnly announces that his duty is fulfilled. And now he and the grandma are moving to a village in the south of the country. I don't know how he managed to earn as much as 6 apartments with his papers, but I am very grateful to my grandfather for this, and I appreciate his contribution to our life. © Chamber 6 / VK

And here are celebrities who became grandparents at a young age, and they’re great with their grandchildren.