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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have told DD this was rude of my granddaughter?

135 replies

BlossomOnTrees · 21/09/2021 10:26

Granddaughter is developing an attitude. She has just turned 9.
She was cross with me today as I wanted to take the shorter walk to school due to time purposes and she wanted to take the longer.
In school I was with the younger grandkids tending to them when I looked up and GD had disappeared. In a panic, I looked around and could not find her. After about 5 minutes I saw her lined up on the other side of the playground about to go in. Am I overreacting to be both hurt she did not say goodbye but also annoyed that she did that?

OP posts:
Quincythequince · 21/09/2021 15:15

Ignore last sentence! Typo.

BoredZelda · 21/09/2021 15:20

If it was one moment then how did she manage to disappear to the point where you had to look for her for 5 minutes?

Yep - the "I only turned away for a minute" is never actually that.

OP. you were busy, she went to class. That's it. Maybe a friend waved her over and she went to talk to them with a "bye gran" over her shoulder.

But, even if she didn't, it really isn't the end of the world. And probably not worth wasting your effort being annoyed about. You seem to have decided she is a moody, rude kid, even if she is, it isn't your place to do anything about that.

BoredZelda · 21/09/2021 15:22

OP, stop providing your DD with an unpaid service that they don't seem to value and start living your life.

How on earth did you come to the conclusion her children don't appreciate her dropping their kids at school? That's some stretch just because one child may or may not have left without saying goodbye.

diddl · 21/09/2021 16:15

Is she getting pissed off at being ruled by younger siblings?

Maybe the longer walk could happen once a week or on the way back?

I think "developing an attitude" is a horrible thng to say.

She needs help to manage her feelings & disappointments!

RedGateWoman · 21/09/2021 16:21

So many granny bashers here. OP, stop providing your DD with an unpaid service that they don't seem to value and start living your life

Oh give over. I look after my sDGC frequently and don't go running to their mum/dad telling tales. DiL doesn't need the stress when she's been at work or unwell, and I can deal with it on the day, calmly, and kindly.

Eve81 · 21/09/2021 16:25

So basically almost every parent on this thread would not pull their child up for leaving unannounced whilst you sorted out your other child momentarily and you went entirely sure where they had gone, You wouldn’t even say, ‘next time can you let me know you’re going to join your class queue so I know you are safe’?

I do think it is not a big issue but it is at worse, disrespectful and at best, unthoughtful.

mustlovegin · 21/09/2021 16:26

I look after my sDGC frequently and don't go running to their mum/dad telling tales

Well, clearly this is upsetting the OP, otherwise she wouldn't be posting.

She's probably on upaid duty as we speak when she could be out with her friends relaxing with a bubbly.

Eve81 · 21/09/2021 16:27

*were not

Horst · 21/09/2021 16:33

But she hasn’t gone somewhere unknown she was in the school playground with granny. Then went and lined up in the school playground for her class intake. She didn’t go anywhere she wasn’t supposed to be.

Sounds more like granny was busy with younger siblings and if 9year old hadn’t of just gone they could of actually been late for their line.

One inside the playground children tend to go off with their friends or straight into classes depending on each school.

Saying goodbye granny while granny is busy with younger siblings likely to not actually be heard or she would have to stand around longer and possibly miss her line. The important part in all of that is getting to school and being in school
On time.

girlmom21 · 21/09/2021 16:46

@Eve81

What the actual fu*k?! Why on earth do the parents on here think it ok even acceptable for a child to walk off with out saying bye? It is not about being polite, it is about announcing that you are now leaving and letting the adult in charge know you are safe. It is ultimately rude as well.
The kid went to the exact area of the playground she was supposed to be in at the given time. Why would she have thought to let her gran know she was safe? Shes likely to have assumed gran would know exactly where she was.

She probably didn't want to be late.

EdgeOfTheSky · 21/09/2021 16:52

Say goodbye to her as soon as you get into the playground so that she can chat to her friends.

If you want to say something to her, just say “don’t forget to say goodbye to your darling grandma” in a nice tone. Don’t get on her case.

If she is seriously it if order, let her know straight.

And do not tell tales about something so minor to her Mum.

EdgeOfTheSky · 21/09/2021 16:55

Oh. Misread your OP.

I see you have already moaned to her Mum.

RedGateWoman · 21/09/2021 18:17

I thought that the OP was posting because her adult DD didn't like the tale-telling subsequent to the walk to school, and OP wants to know if she's being unreasonable telling on her 9 her old dgc to her adult DD because of (a) what she perceives as rudeness, and (b) her need to tell her adult DD about it.

There's probably a lot more to this, though, to be revealed.

I didn't say the OP should ignore it - I said I think she should deal with it herself, preferably on the day of asap.

Anonymouseposter · 21/09/2021 18:43

I think it's very difficult to tell from your post whether your granddaughter went into a big strop because you didn't take the route she wanted and then deliberately stomped off without saying where she was going or whether she just went to her line because you were busy, so she may or may not have been rude.
I think reporting it back to your daughter was a bit over the top, I would have talked to her about it privately next time I took her to school.
I find some of the replies a bit rude though, some people on MN are generally negative towards older women.

RedGateWoman · 21/09/2021 18:47

some people on MN are generally negative towards older women

That is very true; but I bet I'm older than the OP. She could be early 40s? I'm truly ancient.

Keeva2017 · 21/09/2021 19:04

I think moaning to your dd and labelling your gd rude for this is not going to lead anywhere good for you. I mean pick your battles and get over it a bit. Can’t imagine my mum being so overly sensitive and come running to me to complain about my dd for this!

If you want your grandchildren to choose to spend time with you when they get to an age that’s it’s their choice, give her a break and chill out a bit.

knittingaddict · 21/09/2021 19:10

@RedGateWoman

some people on MN are generally negative towards older women

That is very true; but I bet I'm older than the OP. She could be early 40s? I'm truly ancient.

The op employs a nanny and has a grandchild aged 9, so could be anything from 40 to 50 something?
knittingaddict · 21/09/2021 19:18

Or should I say, almost employed a nanny.

LittleOwl153 · 21/09/2021 19:25

I've felt that panic OP when a child is missing oacross a playground. I've also had kids chucking a strop. It probably is her age as she's finding her independant feet.

I think it is reasonable to expect your granddaughter to get your attention to say she is leaving to join her class not just run off.

mustlovegin · 21/09/2021 19:39

If you want your grandchildren to choose to spend time with you when they get to an age that’s it’s their choice

By that time, if the children are so spoilt and treat her like a doormat, the OP will be likely glad to see the back of them TBH

Keeva2017 · 21/09/2021 21:06

@mustlovegin

It’s lazy to label children spoilt just because they show frustration. The op didn’t mention her gds reason for wanting to walk the long way round. Maybe she had a good reason? What if she was dreading getting to school? Or trying to avoid certain kids?

Have you never shown frustration or annoyance? Are you spoilt?

The op either didn’t ask her gd what her reason was or it didn’t matter enough to her to mention it. Her gd had a need that wasn’t met, she simply walked away and quietly showed her feelings, that makes her spoilt? Is she to bottle her feelings? Even if they aren’t rational, she isn’t allowed to have them and react calmly?

My daughter says being a kid is hard and it really is. It doesn’t help when they are labelled negatively for what? Needing something? Wanting something? Reacting quietly to not getting it?

Keeva2017 · 21/09/2021 21:13

Also op you don’t get the hypocrisy here? You are annoyed because you wanted a simple goodbye so called her rude. She was annoyed because wanted to walk a certain way to school and walked away?

Your allowed to feel and show annoyance but she’s not?

CoventryAgain · 21/09/2021 23:31

OP, I see you haven't been back but I hope you will consider what most people have been saying. There are a lot of wise people on Mumsnet. Sorry for the long post here but I hope it may give you food for thought.

In my own case, my mother is toxic and I have been advised here to go no contact with her. She is in her 80s and I'm sorry I didn't cut her off many years ago. I see some parallels in your attitude and am posting in case you might consider opening your mind and hopefully moving on from this small incident towards a more positive future.

My mother, unlike you, never brought my children to school, in fact she never helped me in any way. That's ok, grandparents aren't obliged to help with their grandchildren, however she didn't understand that criticising my parenting, and criticising my children, is not acceptable.

You are helping your DD and hopefully she appreciates this. As a parent yourself, you know how much children change over the years. Look to the future rather than getting hung up on something that happened over the space of 5 minutes.

It is ok to talk about how you felt, for example "I didn't hear you say goodbye and then I didn't know where you were so I was very upset and worried, and cross too because I was worried". But to go and tell your child that her child is rude will help no-one. Effectively you are criticising your daughter's parenting and creating a distance in your relationship.

Because I was brought up in a severely dysfunctional, toxic home, I didn't understand that it was not right for my mother to criticise me and my children, who she saw but rarely and didn't actually like children. I tried for years to keep her happy but regularly felt I had to protect my children from her criticism. Always she told me they "should" be doing this or that, or they were badly behaved and I had to accept this. If they didn't behave exactly as she decided they "should", there was hell to pay.

Now they are adults and she has no relationship with them. She recently told me that if I had been a proper mother she would have a good relationship with my children, I posted here about it and got the advice to walk away.

@BlossomOnTrees it could be you are a wonderful grandparent. But some of your comments concern me -
AIBU to have told DD this was rude of my granddaughter? Tell your DD you felt hurt, not that GDD was rude. Stop judging your grandchild which is also judging your DDs parenting.
Granddaughter is developing an attitude. She has just turned 9. Don't be like my mother who refused to examine why my children may have had an issue with something. She just put down their behaviour without seeing what might have driven it. Express your feelings, not your judgement.
She was in a bad mood as she gets angry when people do not do exactly as she wants. Chip off the old block then.
She may well have said goodbye but I don't believe she did. So you are basing your judgement on something you are not even sure of.

Tread carefully. My mother is going to die a bitter, poisonous old woman. It could have been so different if she had opened her mind.

Topseyt · 22/09/2021 04:19

I think it sounds like a total non-issue.

Let it slide without the melodrama and histrionics.

DangerMouse5 · 22/09/2021 04:43

This is a non event

She had a mardy moment. It's is who she is. Wait till her hormones kick in. Shock

By all means tell your daughter that granddaughter ran off to line up without saying bye - so it panicked you as you had to look for her - but I suspect that'd make DGD secretly chuffed she got a reaction.

As far as DGD is concerned She had arrived at school, she was cross with you , she had friends to play with and a line to join, and you were talking to someone else (no matter how briefly)