Grandma Refuses to Babysit Grandson Unless She’s Paid

Money’s tight. Fuel is through the roof. Food is crazy expensive. Everyone could use a bit of extra cash. But one grandma has gotten the internet up in arms over her demand to be paid to watch her grandson.

Grandma refuses to babysit – interacts reacts

Grandma B (this is what we’ll call her), headed over to Reddit to voice her complaint on the AITA thread. If you’re not familiar with AITA, it’s basically a platform where commenters can decide whether the person is an asshole or not, depending on their story.

Here’s her side of the story.

“My daughter is 29, she has a 1-year-old son and will be returning to work soon. She works 5 days a week, about 7-8 hours a day from 7:30 am-3 pm, and asked me if I would be willing to babysit her son either 2 or 3 days a week.

Of course, I am open to spending time with my grandson, but I explained to her that I would like a payment of $12/hour.”

Grandma B then explains that her granddaughter refused the $12 an hour… but did agree to $10 an hour. However, Grandma B wasn’t happy with that.

“She then lowballed me by requesting $10/hour because she claims that she cannot afford it even with her $22/hour job.”

Not a daycare

Grandma B then explains that she’s got her own life and her own job which she does at home.

“I’m not a daycare, I have my own life, I work for myself and I think she should understand that I’d be giving up my time when I work from home, and if I’m going to be giving up that time then I need money to replace that time I’m giving up from my job.

While I am working at home, I cannot simply work and watch her child at the same time. She says that it’s only 2-3 a week since her husband’s parents are babysitting on the other 2-3 remaining days while she works, and she’d be providing food. I love my grandson, but as I stated above, I’m not a daycare.”

People were not impressed by Grandma’s lack of empathy and attempt to take such a large sum of her daughter’s hourly rate. Think about it – the young mum makes $22 an hour, before tax, and Grandma wants $12. That leaves her with $10 an hour, maybe $80 a day (before tax). Meanwhile, Grandma would be making nearly $100 a day to watch her grandson.

Hmm…

Asshole or not?

“Dude, just say you don’t want to babysit. You’re asking for over 2/3 of the money she’s making pre-tax. Obviously she can’t afford that”, one person wrote.

Many others pointed out that she’s expecting more than many daycare providers make, not to mention the fact that this is her own daughter and grandson.

Of course, some sided with Grandma B’s need to be paid, but perhaps she could have asked for a smaller amount.

However, at the end of the day, the commenters voted and, yes, sorry Grandma B, in this instance, you’re the asshole.

Hopefully, the daughter found an alternative babysitting arrangement. There’s actually a study that suggests grandparents who babysit have been proven to live longer – no payment required. Can’t argue with science.

What to read next

Check out a few previous stories of Grandparents behaving less-than-ideally.

• Grandma decided she wanted to pierce her three-month-old grandbaby’s ears. It didn’t end well. Read it here.
• Granddaughter heads to Grandma’s place for a week of grandma bonding. Then her mum receives a $475.50 bill. Read the full story here. 
• And then there’s this story – A mum headed to work, leaving grandma to watch her baby, only to check the baby cam and discover grandma attempting to breastfeed her child. WHOA! Read it here.