Redditor justdoingmybest93 is a mother who had quite the scare when she reluctantly allowed her husband’s grandmother to babysit their infant son.
One day, the Redditor received an alarming phone call about an incident that happened under the elderly woman’s care.
In the aftermath, the Redditor made a comment to the grandmother and later felt wracked with guilt.
So she visited the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit and asked:
“AITA for lying to my husband’s grandmother about the severity of an injury she caused to my son?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“My husband’s paternal grandmother has an ‘oh don’t worry, everything will work out fine’ mentality.”
“I didn’t think it extended to the safety of newborn babies though, or I never would’ve let her babysit my 3mo son, even for just 3 hours.”
“About a week and a half ago while she was babysitting, I got a call from her saying my son had ‘a bit of a tumble’.”
“I heard my son screaming in the background and my instincts said something was extremely wrong, so I said to get off the phone with me and call an ambulance, then call me back and tell me what happened once the ambulance was on the way.”
“She started handwaving it with ‘I don’t think we need to bother with an ambulance, babies are tougher than they look you know, basically made of rubber.'”
“When I said he sounded like he was hurt she admitted he had ‘a bit of a scrape and a bruise’ and when I pushed further she said it was on his head.”
“I hung up and called the ambulance myself because I wasn’t about to sit there and waste time trying to convince this idiot that a head injury on a 3mo baby is a serious thing.”
“My absolute hero of a boss drove me to the hospital because I was in no state to drive, and I needed to be on the phone to notify my husband and then get the full story from his grandmother.”
“It turns out she not only dropped my son, she dropped him while walking down the stairs, so he fell onto the second from bottom step and hit his head on the third from bottom step.”
“She then wasted time calling her son, who told her she should probably call me or my husband.”
“At the hospital she kept being dismissive, saying I was overreacting and my son would be fine, until I made her leave.”
“As it turns out, my son has a minor fracture in his skull, which will heal on its own, though it will take a couple of months. We’re so incredibly lucky.”
“The doctor said a fall like that could have easily caused a life threatening brain injury, and my husband’s grandmother hesitating to call an ambulance absolutely could have increased his risk of serious disability or death.”
“I was furious with her, but I felt she should know my son was ok so I called her, but when she answered my call with ‘what did I tell you, he’s fine, isn’t he?'”
“Her condescending tone and blasé attitude to my son’s safety pissed me off, so I said ‘actually we’re still not sure if he’s going to make it.’ Then the apologies and the guilt and the distress came out.”
“My husband called her later to tell her my son would be fine. My husband’s father and grandmother are really mad, they think it was a dirty trick to lie to an old lady about her great grandson’s injury, but my husband and I maintain that she deserved to feel bad about what happened to my son, and she obviously wasn’t until she thought his life was in danger.”
“I for one will never let her near my son again, but I hope she’ll now be more careful about the safety of any other children she has care over.”
Strangers on the internet were asked to declare one of the following:
- NTA – Not the A**hole
- YTA – You’re the A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everybody Sucks Here
Many Redditors thought the OP was not the a**hole.
“NTA, but that’s a woman who should not longer be allowed to be alone with children. She’s a danger to them.” – keen238
“Her husband’s grandmother AND father should not be allowed alone with children. The grandmother is what you said, and I wouldn’t allow the father alone with the kid because A) he doesn’t seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation even when his mother called, B) he is enabling his mother, and C) I wouldn’t take a chance of letting husbands father allowing his mother to take the kid when they’re with him ‘because greatgramma misses her little bug.'” – Management_sucks
“A SKULL FRACTURE.”
“IN A THREE MONTH OLD BABY.”
“My heart stopped when I read that. That is TERRIFYING. If it was me, that woman would never, ever, ever be forgiven for that, and my children would never be anywhere near her again.”
“She better be really far-king grateful if she so much was allowed to clap eyes on them again before their 18th birthday, but she would never be allowed to so much as touch a hair on their head.”
“She’d have to be on her ABSOLUTE best behaviour around me for the rest of our lives.”
“And if anyone in the family had a problem with that, they can @ me and see what happened. I have a 7 M old baby asleep upstairs. This was way too close to the bone for me.”
“ETA: to clarify – it’s her attitude that appalls me, not just the injury.” – lurkylurkeroo
“NTA.”
“Actually, I don’t think you really lied/exaggerated that bad. I’m a nurse and you can’t be too sure with head injuries with a baby or child.”
“A lot can happen in the first 72 hours and there’s never any guarantee. How terrifying that must’ve been for you!” – LoveBeach8
“NTA – first of all: I’m really glad your son is going to be OK!”
“Second: she dropped him DOWN the stairs and then tried to downplay it instead of getting help immediately?!? She knew exactly what she did, she was just afraid of the consequences.”
“This woman wouldn’t be seeing my kids anytime soon and then she wouldn’t be allowed to be alone with them or be allowed to hold them.”
“Maybe the doctor should sit your husband down and talk to him about what could have happened.”
“Also I don’t know how something like this is handled where you are from, here police and/or what’s our CPS would start an investigation as accidents with head injuries in babies are taken rather serious.” – drakkya
Overall, Redditors were glad to hear the baby was going to be okay.
And even though the grandmother predicted as such and downplayed the incident, users thought grandma should never look after the OP’s baby unattended ever again.