My daughter is a teen mum and I won’t help her with childcare on weekends – people say I’m harsh but I don’t care
A MAN revealed that he won’t hire a nanny for his grandchild when his daughter is off school – he said it was her choice to have the baby, so she shouldn’t expect to relax at weekends.
The father of a 17-year-old teen mum outlined the story in a Reddit post, seeking advice from strangers about whether or not he was in the right.
His grandchild is one year old, and he agreed to pay for childcare until his daughter finishes high school and then university.
However, it was also agreed that when his daughter was not in school or studying she would look after the baby.
He explained: “We will cover childcare expenses and everything related to the child (diapers, clothes, insurance, etc) until she graduates from college.
“In exchange, our daughter will focus on school and care for her daughter when she is home.”
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Because of Covid, the family decided not to send the baby to nursery school, instead opting to hire a nanny.
He was stunned to discover that his daughter had asked the nanny to work at the weekend so she could relax and spend time with her friends.
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He said: “I waited until my daughter came home to talk to her about it. She said that her friends were going to a party.
“She feels overwhelmed from school and caring for a baby. I told her I understood but this was our deal. She started to cry and said that all her life is, is school and baby.”
The dad stuck to his guns.
“I hugged her, told her that this was the bed she made and she was lucky to have the arrangement she does”, he said.
The man remained firm that, because his daughter insisted on keeping the baby, she had to accept the responsibility of caring for her child.
He said: “My daughter was offered three choices upon getting pregnant. Abortion, adoption or keeping the baby with the arrangement seen here. She refused to consider anything but keeping the baby.”
Some commenters totally disagreed with the dad’s attitude.
One outraged commenter wrote: “It sounds to me like this is the literal first time this has come up where she wanted to do something outside of being a mom and a student. Twelve entire months of her teens where she has done everything you ‘require’ without any time off at all.”
Others, however, saw the father’s perspective.
“It’s hard but… she has to adapt”, said one commenter, and another agreed: “You are right, your daughter made her bed. Many young mothers have it far worse than she does. She needs to step up and take responsibility.”
For more parenting stories, check out “I’m a pregnant mum-of-three at 19… I don’t understand why women wait to have kids until their 30s, they’ll struggle”.
Plus, “I’m pregnant but love drinking cans of Monster – trolls slam me for it but it’s my body and it doesn’t make me a bad mum”.
Plus, “I’m a mummy blogger and my two-year-old daughter is so pretty that people presume she’s wearing make-up”.