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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

I felt like I got shut down in a weird way by my DIL

582 replies

TheWisePearlRaven · 08/06/2025 01:29

I'm wondering if I dropped the ball with my DIL. I took my son to a baseball game recently because he’s been under a lot of pressure with work and he’s an awesome dad and I wanted to give him a bit of a break and my DIL felt like I should've offered to watch the baby so they could've gone on a date. She mentioned feeling like she's always solo-parenting and I didn't help them out as a couple. She said she felt she supports my son by raising my granddaughter saving the family money and giving my son piece of mind that she is in good hands with her mother and it’s not easy work doing this 24/7 as my son gets to leave his job but a SAHM never gets to “clock out” not to mention she handles all of the household tasks of the daily running of the household another less thing my son has to worry about it and she felt I overlooked that and only saw my son’s contributions to the family.

Now she's asked me to watch the baby next week for some me-time. Should I have thought of that date-day opportunity for them? How can I better support them both? I feel awful that my DIL feels I was just supporting my son while overlooking her as that wasn’t my intention at all. I guess as the grandmother I should be looking at it through the lens of supporting the family unit as a whole and not just focus in on supporting my son. I’m glad my DIL felt comfortable enough with me to express her hurt feelings and concern rather than harboring resentment towards me.

However AIBU to be a bit annoyed deep down that a kind gesture I did towards my son individually was basically shut down?

OP posts:
MimiGC · 16/06/2025 13:30

I don’t think you did anything wrong. You didn’t take your son away during their limited family time. You invited him out on a Saturday and instead of saying saying “ sorry no, I can’t , I need to be at home at weekends to spend time with the baby and give X a bit of a break “, he said yes please. That’s on him, not you.
And I definitely don’t think you need to always treat your son and DIL the same. He is your child, not her. She has her own parents, who are pretty involved themselves by the sound of it.

QuaintOchreMember · 21/06/2025 13:57

I think the issue that's being missed here is that this isn't an equal situation or a direct comparison with whether it's "ok" to take a daughter out for a "treat" but not "ok" to take a son out or whether it's "ok" to take any of your grown adult children out without their spouse. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say you (and anyone else saying this should be viewed the same as a mother taking her daughter out as a treat) either don't have daughters, or were raised to believe that a woman's place is in the home and a man's place is to be the provider and occasionally "help out" with the children and home tasks if he's not too tired after his uber-important and terribly stressful job. The ingrained misogyny in society is perpetuated by women having these kinds of attitudes and modelling them for their own sons. In these kinds of situations, you often find that the man's work ends when he gets home and the woman's work never ends because she's never off the clock, even when her partner is home.

You often hear people (almost exclusively women) say "oh, he's so good with his children" and "oh, he's wonderful, he does so much to help around the house". My own mother says this kind of nonsense. I've literally never heard anyone saying the same sorts of things about a woman, and frankly, it would sound ridiculous for someone to say that about a woman. It's time society understood that it also sounds ridiculous to say these kinds of things about men. This is a period of such a huge adjustment for your DIL and you went and pissed all over it. She literally made a human and birthed that human, and is now dedicating her every moment to looking after them, the home and probably to a large extent, supporting and taking care of her husband's needs too. Meanwhile, although he now has some additional responsibilities and the stress of providing for the family financially by himself as your DIL is currently a SAHM, he hasn't given up his entire identity and every waking moment for his family and if anything, he's gone up a notch in society's eyes, whilst his wife has become less visible as an individual,

He even thinks it's perfectly OK to take himself away during some of that precious and small amount of time he has available to spend with his new family. Not very surprising, since you obviously brought him up to think that way. SAHMs rarely get time away out of the house without the baby. Her husband, your son, is at work for probably at least 80% of the waking hours in the week, perhaps even more, whilst your DIL is with the baby, oftentimes on her own, and based on your offer, his acceptance of your offer and her response, I'd be willing to bet she still does most of the work even when he is home because otherwise he wouldn't have felt like he was free to accept your offer. I remember watching the clock and being so happy and relieved when I heard my husband's car in the drive every evening so I could have just a moment to have a shower and get myself something nutritious to eat, or have a nap. I got more and more excited as the weekend approached so I could get a bit of respite and spend some time with him before I was all alone again on Monday morning. Even though I still did at least 50% of the parenting at the weekends, just having the support and the ability to hand the baby off was very much needed.

Not to mention that my husband wanted to spend as much time with our daughter as he possibly could and would never have dreamed of going out with his mother or anyone else during those early months as a new father (nor would she have dreamed of asking him to). Admittedly, our daughter wasn't an easy baby and we had her during lockdown so I couldn't go anywhere with or without her, but still, 6 months is very early days and it sounds like your DIL might be feeling something similar and I do find it strange he even wanted to take you up on your offer. When he is at home, I wonder if he spends any time with the baby completely by himself whilst DIL has completely uninterrupted time away from caring for the baby or your son's needs or doing other tasks around the home? It sounds unlikely. Although stressed at his work, and doing lots of overtime, your son is at least getting time to be himself, with his own identity, away from the other, just as stressful demands of parenting., plus probably getting some down time of his own. Meanwhile, your DIL has just gone through the transition to motherhood, and in spending so much time by herself at home with a baby, has possibly lost part of her own identity and is now viewed by society, and possibly even by you and her husband as a unit with the baby rather than as an individual person with her own wants and needs.

At this point, his respite from the duties at home IS his work, at all other times, he should be sharing (and should want to be sharing) the load with his wife. Her respite is what? In the opposite scenario, it would be an entirely different thing for you, or her own mother, to invite your DIL out for some time away to provide some relief for her than it is to do the same for the man who is already spending a great deal of time away from his home, his baby and his wife. If you felt the need to reward anyone for their hard work (which as people have said, is a bit weird anyway), you could have offered to take them both out for a meal or you could have offered to babysit so they could both go out on their own as a couple. So whilst I think that yes, you were out of order for inviting the working father of a 6 month old out by himself for an extended period of Mommy-son time as a "reward for all his hard work",

it was also out of order for him to think it was appropriate and agree to it. And to those people who say he should have checked first with his wife, even that shouldn't have been necessary, he should have already known that in their dynamic, this wasn't the right thing to do. He should have known his wife would be upset by both the offer and the way it was described and declined your offer before even presenting it to his wife as a viable proposition.

I also find it rather strange that he would even want to spend such a large amount of his free time away from his wife and baby at this time, particularly as he's working so much overtime at the moment, but clearly, you brought him up this way. I think it's great you have the sort of relationship with your DIL that she felt comfortable to communicate with you in the way she did, and I also think it's great that you are asking for and open to outside advice. I think she was a bit out of order to demand you babysit to make up for it, but the actual conversation might not have gone exactly how it sounds.

You also said she said "she's feeling like I'm more invested in my son's life and that I lean more heavily towards him, which is making her feel unappreciated and overlooked" so this is obviously not the first time you've effectively dismissed her or viewed her as secondary or less important than your son and that there's been a pattern of you "bigging up" your son and his role to the detriment of your DIL. I get that he's your son and you're bound to have a bias in his favour, but he's a father now, and you're not helping the stresses in his or your DIL's life by taking him away from his family when his time with them is already so limited. I think you might might have a little work to do on your own internalised misogyny and once you truly understand why it wasn't appropriate for you to ask (in the way that you did) and why it wasn't appropriate for him to accept, perhaps you'll be able to help him to understand this as well. Oh, and you'll also be able to apologise, unreservedly to your DIL and hopefully repair your relationship.

QuaintOchreMember · 21/06/2025 14:25

the7Vabo · 08/06/2025 12:47

I think work, for example a corporate job has some advantages, chats with colleagues etc that I missed when I wasn’t working. But at the end of the day it’s work not amusement park. You are accountable to others for your time.

When my baby was 6 months I had freedom I could go to coffee shops, baby cinema, lovely walks, I could stay in my PJs all day if I wanted. And I got to hang out with my baby, see all his milestones. It was a gorgeous time in my life. I understand there are situations like PN, additional needs, high needs baby, baby who never sleeps etc.
But minding your own average 6 month old is a happy time.

Comparing the experiences of new dads working outside the home to those of stay-at-home moms is not only unfair but also dismissive of the physical and emotional challenges that mothers face. After childbirth, mothers' bodies undergo significant changes, including hormonal fluctuations, physical recovery, and breastfeeding challenges like sore breasts. I'm sorry but a mother taking her daughter out as a break in these particular circumstances is not at all the same as taking out a dad whose body hasn't been affected at all by having a baby and caring for it 24/7. I am curious on why he took his mom up on this offer to be out all day as treat when his wife is doing the majority of the childcare. Makes me think he doesn't come home and immediately give his wife a reprieve. If anythig as a woman and as one point a young mother himself not only should he mother not be doing this she should be encouraging her son to be with his wife and young child and to help his wife out not taking him away even more. Or better yet if she gives a flying fig about her DIL and everything she went through and is going through why not take them both out for a meal or offer to babysit so the couple has alone time. The fact this husband felt it was ok to yet again not spend time with his child and wife and not tell his mom sorry mom but I have limited time with my wife and child I am going to bond with my baby that I rarely see speaks volumes about how he was raised. I bet he was raised to believe men/fathers can get away with doing the bare minimum and that if a man so much as changed a diaper or two in the evenings he was doing his far share. Meanwhile, dads get to leave their childcare responsibilities behind when they head to work, without the physical toll of childbirth or the demands of breastfeeding. It's a slap in the face to imply that their experiences are comparable. Instead of comparing, let's focus on supporting and valuing the unique contributions of each parent.

QuaintOchreMember · 21/06/2025 14:28

healthybychristmas · 08/06/2025 10:22

My son and daughter-in-law have a little child. I remember when my son and daughter were little all I wanted was a bit of time with my husband. I think at this point in their life you need to be supporting their marriage rather than only your son. It is really difficult, I know, but things will get easier!

Exactly this. Once a couple is married they are their own separate family unit and the role of extended family is to support their needs as a couple/family. They are a family unit you don't separate them out from one another they are a team , parenthood is a team effort, and they together run the household as a team. In essence the right hand can't do it without the left. So separating out just your son instead of seeing him first and foremost as a father and husband is problematic. A grandparent's role is to support both parents and the family as a whole in what they need. Take the couple out to a nice meal. offering to babysit your GC, asking BOTH hey what do you guys need for moral support.

BIossomtoes · 21/06/2025 15:30

That’s one hell of a chip you’ve got on your shoulder @QuaintOchreMember.

Ohnobackagain · 21/06/2025 16:16

I think it's fine to treat your son from time to time - but you should have included DIL in the planning and not assumed she would be fine being left alone looking after kids etc (don’t know how you planned it). It’s also nice to treat them both or even take HER out if you’re close. I get both sides here! Maybe apologise for not thinking of what him going out meant for her (more work) and just be more mindful? Don’t really think you were in the wrong or did anything deliberate - just a bit thoughtless.

maddening · 23/06/2025 16:10

QuaintOchreMember · 21/06/2025 14:28

Exactly this. Once a couple is married they are their own separate family unit and the role of extended family is to support their needs as a couple/family. They are a family unit you don't separate them out from one another they are a team , parenthood is a team effort, and they together run the household as a team. In essence the right hand can't do it without the left. So separating out just your son instead of seeing him first and foremost as a father and husband is problematic. A grandparent's role is to support both parents and the family as a whole in what they need. Take the couple out to a nice meal. offering to babysit your GC, asking BOTH hey what do you guys need for moral support.

Good God the role of the extended family is not to support the couple what a pile of shite - my parent's role is to live and enjoy their own lives. We enjoy our ongoing relationship and spend time with each other as suits us all mutually.

The only relationship with any obligation is my and my husband's relationship with our son, as he is our dependant minor and we have parental responsibility. Hopefully we will continue to have a lovely mutually enjoyable relationship once he fledges as an adult.

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