Abby Connolly
Have you ever dated someone with children and found that you suddenly had to take on a lot of parental responsibilities even though you weren’t officially their stepparent or adoptive parent?
One woman is concerned that her son, who’s a young father, has allowed his girlfriend to take on too many responsibilities regarding his two-year-old.
She’s 59 and has a 23-year-old son. Two years ago, her son’s ex-girlfriend had their baby, but their relationship was messy and toxic. Her son’s ex eventually stopped coming around as much, so after they broke up, he mostly shared custody of his son with her parents instead of her.
Today, her son is dating a 19-year-old named Grace, and she’s great in so many ways.
“Grace loves children, adores my grandson, and often calls him her baby,” she said.
“My grandson likes her too, and it’s very adorable. I’ve known Grace for a long time, and I think she’s perfect. The issue is that my son has started to give her a lot of childcare responsibilities. Once, Grace spent the night in the hospital with my grandson while my son was studying for an exam, and it seems like her life is slowly starting to revolve around my grandson and his naps, his feeding schedule, etc.”
She’s noticed that Grace’s every free moment outside of work and school is spent with her grandson and son. This gives her anxiety for several reasons, the two biggest being that she isn’t sure if her son and Grace will stay together forever and her grandson is getting attached. She also doesn’t want Grace to waste her younger years caring for someone else’s baby.
Recently, her grandson was sick, and Grace took care of him whenever her son was working. It got to the point where her grandson wanted to snuggle up to Grace more than his dad, so Grace ended up missing work and school to take care of him, and it wasn’t the first time she’d done that.
Around that time, her husband commented on how it was a relief their son didn’t have to bother with his ex anymore because Grace was practically a mother, and her son agreed, saying Grace was a godsend because he wouldn’t get any rest without her.
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