Parents often have to rely on their own parents when trying to juggle childcare and work commitments, however for one family this has become a subject of tension.
A young mum, 29, has taken to the internet to complain about how her retired mother refuses to look after her grandchild for free.
The outraged mum is seeking advice from Reddit users to find out whether her expectation of free childcare courtesy of her own mum is unreasonable, or if she’s right to be outraged.
"I asked my mum to help me take care of my newborn so I could go back to work once my leave is up," she begins in her rant.
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"My mum is 64, has been a homemaker/stay-at-home-mum since 1992, and hasn't been part of the workforce since then.
"She's refused, saying she's too old and that she already raised her kids. She also added that if I really wanted this baby, then maybe I should have thought about staying home like she did to take care of it while my partner goes to work and provides for us like a ‘traditional’ family, and that if she any my dad were able to work it out, so can we."
However the woman rejected her mum’s advice, citing the thousands of dollars’ worth of debt she and her husband need to pay off, such as student loans, credit cards and a car loan.
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"She then proceeded to say that she will charge me $20/hr (£16) for each hour she takes care of the baby, plus late fees if we are late for pickup, and must provide her with a carseat, stroller, bottles, and pretty much double of everything we have at our home to compensate for taking the baby to her house."
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Commenters in the Am I the A**hole thread on Reddit were mostly unsympathetic to the mum’s situation and sided with the grandmother.
One commenter, who said the young mum was the ‘a**hole’ in this situation, said: “Sorry to be blunt and rude but maybe don't have a child if you can't afford to take care of them. And if your plan was always go back to work you should of discussed that during the pregnancy with your mom.”
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Another Reddit user wrote: “Sounds like they can afford the infant daycare and “simply” wanted their mom to be a certain type of mother and grandmother.
“The mom is judging OP and OP is judging her mom right back. My guess is this isn’t really about expecting childcare.”
While a third penned: “The mom is 64. She watches tv and cooks...because she's retired!!!!! Childcare is a very demanding job.”
And someone else shared: “Your NTA for wanting her too. But YTA for expecting her too.”
Gregory Robinson