Currently in bed recovering from an operation, my husband has been doing everything around the house including school drop off so pick ups etc we have asked for help on one of the weekdays from in laws. Some background both are retired, we very rarely ask for help, we do school picks ups drops off between me and husband, we normally have 3 or 4 nights out a year for birthday/Christmas/anniversary where we will put kids to bed before going out for a meal and in laws will sit at ours, during school holidays they have them 1 day a week for 6 hours the rest of the holidays husband and i spilt our leave to look after the kids, we don't like to ask for help as we feel they don't really want to look after the kids, I know they are not on tap babysitters they have their own lives but I just would have thought that they would want to see the kids ot offer once in a while to pick them up from school do dinner that type of thing but there's never an offer. Anyway they have picked kids up I'm upstairs recovering and they've been home from.school for 2 hours and all they have done is watch tv no dinner has been started so call down to kids to tell them they've had the telly on long enough and to do something else. After dinner the tv is back on again it got to 7pm and i asked if the telly could be turned off as they dont have it an hour before bed. Later on my mother in law comes up to say she doesn't like what I did earlier felt like I was watching her by saying kids had been watching tv for too long and telling them to turn it off, I know they are helping but I still can parent from.upstairs if I wish too. I just feel like they don't really want to have the kids play with them interact with them I guess this is why we very rarely ask them to look after them or they offer to want to have them, I guess when I was younger I just think back to my nan she would pick us up from school we'd always go.for Sunday dinner have sleepovers it was the best time and I am.just a bit gutted the kids are missing out on that. Anyway aibu for asking them to do certain things from upstairs in bed or should I have just left them to it.