My husband and I have been happily married for 10 years. We have a healthy, beautiful 6-month-old baby, and both of us work full-time. My husband works from home and I work in an office.
My mother-in-law recently retired and she offered to watch our baby while both of us are working. We accepted and it’s all good, she has a way with kids so no comments there. I truly appreciate her time and devotion and everything she does. She not only watches the baby but also does the dishes, cooks, and cleans.
My mother-in-law and I had a talk yesterday where she dared to ask us for payment/hour. I am still in shock. How dare she ask for money for precious time with her grandchild? Putting a price on time spent with Katie?? When I was a baby, my grandma used to babysit me and my sister for hours on end. My grandma never asked for any kind of payment, money, or gifts, she just did it out of love for us. I used to babysit my siblings for hours on end when I was younger, for free.
I don’t even know what to say, I’m angry and this situation has started to affect my marriage. My husband believes that she has the right to get paid because if she didn’t care for our kid, we’d still be obligated to hire a complete stranger and we’d probably end up paying even more.
I am out of options. I have thought through everything and I’m lost. My head is just AAAH. What do I do here? Do you have any advice? My friends have never had this problem before, so I have no one else to help me.
Do your parents ever take care of your baby? Have you ever thought about paying or compensating them for their time? How would you respond if a family member asked you for payment in exchange for babysitting? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Brightside
