People support grandmother who refused to babysit new grandchild unless she's paid $20 an hour

Grandparents often rise to the occasion when parents feel the need to take some time for themselves as it also gives them the chance to spend time with their precious grandkids. However, some parents abdicate their responsibilities and dump their kids off at the grandparents at every given opportunity for the silliest reasons. Recently, a 29-year-old woman came under fire on Reddit after she asked if her mother was in the wrong for refusing to babysit her newborn for free.

“Am I the a**hole if my mom refused to help me take care of my baby while I go back to work?” u/erika_urrrika asked the popular subreddit (r/AmItheA**hole). In her post, the new mother explained that she and her partner work full-time and cannot afford to have one parent stay home with their baby. "I make $55k/yr but have $39k in student loans + $20k in other debt (credit card, car loan, medical debt on credit). My partner makes about $36k/yr and has $5k in credit card debt. I, as the higher breadwinner, have an internal obligation to go back to work since not only do I have the most at stake, but I also make the most to keep our family afloat," she added.

When she asked her mom to step in and babysit her baby, the grandmother refused and said she would not look after her grandchild for free, noting that she was “too old” and had “already raised her kids.” The Reddit mom added, "Mind you, my mom is 64, has been a homemaker/stay-at-home-mom since 1992, and hasn't been part of the workforce since then. She refused, saying she was too old and that she already raised her kids. She also added that if I wanted this baby, then maybe I should have thought about staying home like she did to take care of it while my partner goes to work and provides for us like a 'traditional' family and that if my dad were able to work it out, so can we."

u/erika_urrrika added that her mother asked to be paid $20 an hour for looking after her grandchild, including a fee for late pickup. She added, "We must provide her with a car seat, stroller, bottles, and pretty much double everything we have at home to compensate for taking the baby to her house." She stated that she does not want to invest as much in buying two of everything as she is trying to bring down her debt. The mom added that she is "on the fence" about enrolling her baby in a daycare as the cost will be lower than paying her mother what she asked. "Due to our jobs, we cannot work from home, so we are in desperate need of childcare," she shared. "Everyone else in our family works full time, so they cannot help us as they have a similar 9-5 schedule."

In the comments, many Reddit users called the daughter “entitled” and a "retired mom" for expecting her mother to look after her child for free. "No, she wanted free childcare so she can get out of debt and has decided mom doesn't do anything of value anyway, so she should be thrilled to babysit for free. Totally entitled attitude. Grandma raised her kids and does not owe it to her daughter to raise hers," said u/peoplearejerks69.

"Sorry to be blunt and rude but maybe don't have a child if you can't afford to take care of them. And if your plan was always to go back to work you should have discussed that during the pregnancy with your mom," added u/ImpossibleHand5086. "In the end, it's your responsibility to care for your child and work that out around work, if you couldn't manage that, you shouldn't be making babies," wrote u/IHaveSaidMyPiece.