Chip Chick
This 71-year-old woman and her 72-year-old husband recently found themselves entangled in a family dispute with their 39-year-old son and his 36-year-old wife.
Their son and their son’s wife had recently celebrated the birth of their fourth child, who was born nine months prior.
The birth process had historically been lengthy for their son’s wife, as she had to be induced for the last two, inclusive of their most recent child.
On the day of the birth, she and her husband were in charge of their three elder grandchildren: a boy of five, a girl of four, and another girl aged two.
The induction began at eight in the morning, but by one in the afternoon, there was little progress. Faced with the task of tending to the energetic trio, she proposed to her son that he come home for a few hours to assist, as it seemed the birth might stretch on.
Their home was a mere half an hour away from the hospital, enabling their son to return pretty quickly if the labor escalated.
She recognized the significance of the birth event for her son and his wife and was not aiming to deprive him of that.
“My son took great offense to my request and told me to [deal], bribe the kids with treats or whatever worked for us, and that there was no way he would leave his wife’s side unless there was an emergency with one of the kids like they were admitted to the hospital or something,” she explained.
She reminded her son that the children were his and his wife’s responsibility and that he couldn’t expect her and her husband to provide round-the-clock childcare if the birth continued for days.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
