“Am I Wrong for Leaving My Grandchild at the Police Station?”

A grandmother who had had enough of being asked to babysit constantly, decided to teach her daughter a lesson by dumping her grandson at the local police station saying he’s been abandoned. Problem is, now the child has been taken away from his mother and is in foster care!

Writing into Reddit to ask if she was in the wrong, the grandmother explains why she felt she had no choice but to take her grandson to the police station after being expected to look after him nearly every day all day. Here’s her post:

My daughter has been living with me for the past couple of months. And while she is finally working (only part time), it took for me to nearly force her to find a job.

My grandson is 2 years old and my daughter is 20. His father is in and out of his life so i primarily babysit my grandson while my daughter works, runs errands etc. I love my grandson and my daughter, but it is not my due responsibility to care for him 24/7 and I am not required to do so. I raised my kids and I did my best, so I should not have another weight on my shoulders or raising another child because she had him so young.

Yesterday, my daughter worked from 8am-4pm and I worked overnight from 10pm-7am and this is my regular full time shift. I told my daughter that I would not be able to watch him because I was tired, nevertheless she put him on my bed and said she didn’t have a sitter. I’d had enough of being forced to watch him against my wishes in my own home so once she left I called her, texted her but no response and she ignored my calls.

At that point I grabbed my things, grabbed my grandson and dropped him off at the police station and told them that my grandson was abandoned in my home and that I couldn’t reach my daughter and that I was unable to care for him. They said okay, got her contact info and was unable to reach her in which at that point I went home. A few hours later, my daughter called me crying telling me that the police turned him over to CPS and is refusing to give him back. They are saying she neglected him and child abandonment which she did. My daughter thinks I’m the AH and it’s unfortunate she no longer has access to her son, but this is simply not my responsibility. AITA?

Wow! Ok, that’s a lot to take in. Sure the grandmother was trying to teach her daughter a lesson, but was this the right way to go about it? Here’s what commenters thought of her actions:

I mean, are you for real? I get that daughter was totally out of line but didn’t you feel scared as his grandma dumping him at the police station and now he’s been taken by CPS? Your daughter is TA for doing that but that was really, really heartless and cold of your as grandma to him. Now that CPS is involved they will continue to be involved so I hope there’s more to this.

YTA because you are mad at your daughter and taking it out on your 2 year old grandson.

No matter how irresponsible your daughter is, you risked your grandson being emotionally and potentially physically abused by putting him in the system. Children do not do better in foster care.

And they just kept coming!

First, YTA for using the police to teach your daughter a lesson. They have better things to do.

Second, YTA for leaving a TWO YEAR OLD with a bunch of strangers with no thought of how frightening that might be to the child.

Third, YTA for not considering the possibility that your grandchild could have been taken away by child protective services for something like this, and that you would have then been responsible for long-term messing up the child’s relationship.

Fourth, YTA for not communicating with your daughter better. Honestly, if you had been clear and not let her live with you in the first place or been firm from the outset it might have forced her to find living arrangements where her baby didn’t suddenly end up at the police described as abandoned.

YTA for using police and child welfare as a first line option. You’re grown. Use your words instead of traumatizing your grandson.

YTA- you could’ve drove the kid to her works, handed him over and walked away if you wanted to embarrass her into being more responsible. But you decided to waste police and government resources, and traumatise your grandchild to get your point across.

What do you think? Did the grandma take things too far?

Images: Pixabay