Theatre ticket paying conondrum

[wobblywinelover]

My parents spotted a theatre show which would benefit my son (who has special needs) as he is due to study it for his GCSE's and suggested we book it. Good call. It's in half term when I have to send my son to the other grandparents for childcare as it's the only time I can tell work i'm available for shifts. They live just over an hour away. My son doesn't want to go with just them (he thinks they can be a bit mean at times) he wants to go but only if I come with him.

After a bit of discussion it we decided on a date to book and that i'll just have to arrange work around it. My mum has just booked the tickets telling me it's £33.00 for the adult tickets, £16 for a child with special needs, and £16 for the carer of the child. They have offered to pay for my son which is great, but when I asked them how much I would owe them for my ticket they said they would need to think about it. In the heat of the moment I said i'd rather just pay £33 for my ticket rather than nit picking over prices (as i'm not tight with money and I know they can be a bit controlling over money issues and thought they can't argue with that as they can't use it against me). My mum snapped my hand off and agreed straight away without having to think about it.

But thinking about it afterwards I'm just wondering if i've done the right thing? If i'd taken my son on my own it would have cost me a pound less. (which isn't a big deal) but now I feel they are using my son's concession rate and technically profiting from it. Why was it so hard for them to say to me that I should only owe them £16 as i'm my son's main carer. I hope i've explained this properly but something doesn't sit right with me about it. AIBU?

I'd tell them thankyou for the offer but actually no thankyou...

And then if he wants to go, take him by yourself.

I think they offered expecting to get a free carer in, so a bigger saving, realised that wouldn't happen and their saving would only be a quid, hence the 'think about it' comment...

If they were only going for his benefit, and now you are going.. they don't need to go....

Your parents are already spending £65 to go to see a play they might not even want to see. Expecting them to pay a further £16 so that you only need to pay £16 doesn’t seem reasonable. I bet your parents probably think you going is unnecessary and that your son should enjoy an evening with them alone (I know that’s not the reality but it’s possibly what they might think). They only way I might see this differently is if you are poor and your parents very well off. It might be as I’m tired and it’s late but I didn’t understand the extra detail about the other grandparents or why that’s relevant!

In your position I 'd split the cost and each adult pay c.£27. I get reduced price theatre tickets through work so I might get 2 reduced tickets at £16 and the rest would be £33. I always total the cost and split equally so everyone benefits although obviously if I went on my own it would be cheaper for my ticket.