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Woman Refuses To Kick Her Son Out Of His Room To Make Space For Full-Blown Nursery Her Daughter And SIL Are Demanding
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Woman Refuses To Kick Her Son Out Of His Room To Make Space For Full-Blown Nursery Her Daughter And SIL Are Demanding

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While parents are in some sense super heroes to kids—usually their own, but not necessarily, I think Jimmy’s mom is cool —as they do understand and actually manage to deal with the immense pressures that come along with parenthood, sometimes there is so much expected of parents that it just becomes too overwhelming and they begin setting boundaries.

Well, one parent, who is about to become a grandparent, also had to draw the line somewhere when her son in law started straight up demanding she set up a nursery for the grandkid at the expense of one of her sons’ rooms. Needless to say, that conversation didn’t end well.

More info: Reddit

While sharing a room with a sibling isn’t all that bad, sharing it once you’re already a teen, let alone already had one is a bummer

Image credits: distillated (not the actual photo)

So, a woman has recently turned to the Am I The A-Hole community on Reddit with a short story, wondering if she was wrong to refuse to set up a nursery for her soon-to-arrive grandchild in place of one of her sons’ rooms, forcing them to share a room rather than to have separate ones.

The story goes that her 24-year-old daughter Avery and her 27-year-old husband, the son-in-law, Tom, are expecting their firstborn. Both are super excited and hella invested in the whole thing, so much so that it’s sometimes hard to get a hold of them at this point.

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So, the couple was visiting grandma and during one of their conversations, Tom asked if she had emptied one of the rooms to be transformed into a nursery. OP was confused. Tom explained that it was something that was expected of her. Again, OP was confused. Even more so at this point.

This mom tried to protect her two sons from having to share a room, all because the older sister and her hubby decided one of their rooms ought to be used as a nursery

Image credits: u/throwawaynursery7

Turns out, it is “common” for the grandparents to prepare a nursery in their homes to welcome their grandson as a new member of the extended family. He also provided some examples of this happening. What is more, he even pointed out that his parents already did it.

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It is worth mentioning that Tom’s family is much more well off than OP’s is, and they can afford nurseries just like that, but as it stands now, the soon-to-be grandma explained she can’t do that because there is no spare, nor the money for an individualized nursery that, according to Tom, should make sure the grandkid has everything they need whenever the family is visiting. The daughter seemed to agree with him.

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Image credits: u/throwawaynursery7

After the back-and-forth, OP’s daughter jumped in, suggesting she move her older teenage son (16) to live in one room with the younger one (14). The woman was against this, explaining that they are old enough to have separate rooms, but Tom objected, saying that they could actually live together because they’re boys.

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All this escalated into an argument, whereby Avery started accusing the mother of not caring about them, or the grandchild, and left. And it didn’t take long for the dad to catch wind of this, who ended up siding with Tom and Avery. He accused her too, saying she favored the boys as always. OP, however, was convinced Tom’s and Avery’s request was a bit too unreasonable.

Image credits: u/throwawaynursery7

Despite Tom actually offering to cover the nursery setup expenses, this was non-negotiable for OP, as it would mean forcing her teens to live together while the grandkid has a reserved space for occasional visits. So, she turned to the AITA community for some perspective.

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And perspective they delivered. The community ruled that she isn’t wrong to want separate rooms for her sons. Not only because of the whole ‘occasional visits’ thing, but also because it isn’t, in fact, ‘common’ for grandparents to dedicate full nurseries. It was more of a case of ‘normal’ being grandparents having pop-up cribs and some toys.

Some parents on Reddit argued that it was also normal for the parents to bring everything with them everywhere. Plain and simple. Yet others pointed out just how entitled, and somewhat arrogant, it all was. In fact, some suspected they will want to ‘dump’ the baby on everyone else.

The internet was having none of it, and decided that the woman was not wrong to not allow for a nursery

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Regardless of opinion, the post was a success. It got over 20,000 upvotes (with 96% upvoted) and 60 plus Reddit awards, all the while generating over 3,500 comments. And one of the top comments was upvoted over 44,500 times, so there’s that.

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You can check out the post in its entirety here, and go check out other Am I The A-Hole articles available on Bored Panda here. But before you go, tell us your opinions and thoughts in the comment section below!

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Robertas Lisickis

Robertas Lisickis

Author, BoredPanda staff

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Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

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Robertas Lisickis

Robertas Lisickis

Author, BoredPanda staff

Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

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Moezzzz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've never heard of grandparents making a room for the baby UNLESS they have an empty room already (and even then it seems weird unless they're going to be watching the baby a significant amount of time). If they're so well off, let them build a small addition onto the house and THAT can be baby's room

LuckyL
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So this tiny little humand should have three rooms, while two teenagers are supposed to share one room?

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bonnyatlast
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This smacks of entitlement. Rich son in law can come in and displace sons living there with his child because of course because he is rich he is entitled to do that. His child is more important than they are after all. How would those sons feel? I was just waiting for him to say " Know your place". What is he a King? And he bullied the grandmother saying if you don't you won't see the grandchild as much? That would get my back up right there. Attic conversions are a thing you know.....let the boys have new rooms upstairs and then pay to fix up a downstairs bedroom so the baby will be close by.

Otter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It smacks of both entitlement, and utter disdain for his young brothers-in-law.

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Francesca Annoni
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother has 3 grandchildren..now she lives alone in a big house with 3 bedrooms.. we and my sister's family visit her very often , she has a lot of toys for the kids but we never thought to transform a room into a nursery.. we have a camping bed for baby ( or the little one sleep between me and my husband) and a cushion over the washing machine as a changing table.. the grandchildren don't live with her..there is no need for a nursery..

Kathi Schäffer
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly. My parents have three basically empty rooms (me and my brothers' former bedrooms) but no one would ever consider the idea of turning one into a nursery for my baby niece. She doesn't live there and when she visits, we're all in the living room together.

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Moezzzz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've never heard of grandparents making a room for the baby UNLESS they have an empty room already (and even then it seems weird unless they're going to be watching the baby a significant amount of time). If they're so well off, let them build a small addition onto the house and THAT can be baby's room

LuckyL
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So this tiny little humand should have three rooms, while two teenagers are supposed to share one room?

Load More Replies...
bonnyatlast
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This smacks of entitlement. Rich son in law can come in and displace sons living there with his child because of course because he is rich he is entitled to do that. His child is more important than they are after all. How would those sons feel? I was just waiting for him to say " Know your place". What is he a King? And he bullied the grandmother saying if you don't you won't see the grandchild as much? That would get my back up right there. Attic conversions are a thing you know.....let the boys have new rooms upstairs and then pay to fix up a downstairs bedroom so the baby will be close by.

Otter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It smacks of both entitlement, and utter disdain for his young brothers-in-law.

Load More Replies...
Francesca Annoni
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother has 3 grandchildren..now she lives alone in a big house with 3 bedrooms.. we and my sister's family visit her very often , she has a lot of toys for the kids but we never thought to transform a room into a nursery.. we have a camping bed for baby ( or the little one sleep between me and my husband) and a cushion over the washing machine as a changing table.. the grandchildren don't live with her..there is no need for a nursery..

Kathi Schäffer
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly. My parents have three basically empty rooms (me and my brothers' former bedrooms) but no one would ever consider the idea of turning one into a nursery for my baby niece. She doesn't live there and when she visits, we're all in the living room together.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
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