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Grandparenting

To young to be an interest grandparent

(214 Posts)
Lomond Tue 05-Apr-22 12:04:24

correct me if I'm posting on the wrong place, I'm totally new here and unsure what to do.
The advice I'm looking for is as follows..
I had my son at 16 I'm now 36 and his girlfriend is pregnant she's due in July.
He still lives with my husband and myself and she lives with her mother.
I have zero interest in this grandchild and want absolutely nothing to do with it. It may sound harsh but it's how I feel. I have another child who is 5 so I feel I'm still a mother to a young child. My husband and I had not decided we had finished having our own family. He now states " we can't have any more now" how is this fair?
I dont want her and her baby staying in my house.
Everyone else thinks this is fabulous news apart from me.
They have zero plans on getting their own place and I'm sick of picking up the pieces.
I'm 36! I should not be forced into this position.
My head is ready for bursting with it all.
Thanks

A little bit of explanation

1. They can't afford their own place at the moment. They both work fulltime but have never been savers. They spend what they get every month in a very lavish lifestyle
They plan to half their time between both parents houses.
I'm in total disagreement with this.
2. We were thinking on having another child next year but now my husband says definitely not as we are now going to be grandparents.
I just feel really unhappy about it all in every aspect.
Everyone seems to think my opinions are harsh.

Lomond Tue 05-Apr-22 18:35:50

Thank you Serendipity22 we found out 5 weeks ago. Still all very new.

I'm not saying my mindset won't change but it all being thrown at us in a lump is hard to deal with.

I will support my son with ever fibre of my being. I love that boy more than life itself.

I hate that this situation has occurred so early on in their relationship.
I not doing "he said she said, he should have done she should have done "

My son is in no place to leave the nest yet. Be it all he's going to be a father he has zero maturity to leave home at the moment.
I would never force him to do such as I do not in anyway want his mental health to suffer.

I know he's stressed with this situation and although I've made my feelings clear I'm not having a family of 3 moving in my home, I would never force my son out.

Serendipity22 Tue 05-Apr-22 18:23:30

Total and utter understanding of this situation you are experiencing flowers

I'm sorry to ask this question if you have already explained but how long ago were you told? I ask this because if it was recently, then you will be still in the shocked emotion, which is perfectly understandable.

By the time little Miss or Master arrives things may be totally different in your mindset.

Take each day at a time, try not to say harsh things to your son that once said, cant be taken back, have no regrets.

All will work out good in the end.... flowers

MissAdventure Tue 05-Apr-22 18:23:23

I would be helping them to find somewhere as a matter of urgency.

There is no way I would allow anyone to make plans for my home, and how they intended to use it, son or not.

AnnS1 Tue 05-Apr-22 18:18:21

Could both sets of parents help towards renting a flat for them?

eazybee Tue 05-Apr-22 17:50:24

I don't withdraw my description of this couple as feckless.

To have a baby aged twenty when they are not even living together and presumably have never done so.
To have no experience of living independently, therefore no experience of the cost of living.
To lack a settled home of their own with apparently no plans to make one in the immediate future.
To expect both sets of parents to house them and a new baby, and presumably provide additional childcare whilst putting their plans on hold;
To think it is realistic to consider living between two homes provided by other people.
To be astonished that you are not overjoyed.

What really concerns me is what sort of parents this couple will make; they have put less consideration into having a child then most people put into having a dog.

PECS Tue 05-Apr-22 17:29:03

smileless no idea how old you are but the percentage of income ( not including the deposit) that goes on rent& rates is significantly higher now than when I first lived independently of my parents (I was 20). Today's rental & house purchase costs are not comparable to when I was stating out in the early 70s.
Life/ society was hugely different and what I had / did/ expected was also very different from my parents' experience in 1940s.

Lomond Tue 05-Apr-22 17:27:52

M0nica thank you for your reply.
My son probably does have a sense of "inflated entitlement " as he has always had everything handed to him on a plate. I've never wanted him to struggle they way I did in the early days.
I have done everything in my power for him to have a very privileged life.

That is why I honestly thought he would have been in a settled relationship before bringing a child into the world. He knows fine well how much I have struggled to get where I am today.

He has never been brought up in a "closed shop environment" nothing is ever off the table when it comes to discussions. We are a very open family.

Thanks everyone for all the different comments and opinions

Callistemon21 Tue 05-Apr-22 17:19:46

I know some contraceptives aren't always failsafe eg condoms but a belt and braces approach is always advisable.
The young man could have taken some responsibility and made more sure himself by using a condom.
Never assume anything.

Audi10 Tue 05-Apr-22 17:13:07

I too would be furious with her stopping contraception! Sounds very immature for someone of 21, I agree with you Lomond! If her mother is so keen she should indeed live with her! I think the lavish lifestyle won’t be continuing with a baby! And the fact of splitting living between two homes is just bonkers!

Callistemon21 Tue 05-Apr-22 17:07:13

vegansrock

I think it will just prove too inconvenient to split homes anyway with a baby and all the palaver you need for them. They should stay at her mums as she is so keen.

I agree, I don't think it's a good idea at all.

Two cots, all the bedding, high chairs, all the other paraphernalia needed for a baby would be double the expense too. Who would do the caring when they are both back at work?

They need to get their names down for their own accommodation asap.

AmberSpyglass Tue 05-Apr-22 16:59:58

I think it’s completely valid to tell your son that he and his family need to find alternate accommodation.

Urmstongran Tue 05-Apr-22 16:57:21

I agree with vegansrock.

NotSpaghetti Tue 05-Apr-22 16:47:53

I totally understand this. We had our first child young but we rented a small flat and like thousands of others just muddled along.
I think in your position I'd try to help with a loan for the deposit for a flat and then they can work it out as a family. It may be best for everyone in the end.
I think with a young family of your own you already have plenty going on.
flowers

PECS Tue 05-Apr-22 16:46:12

I put the 'rent', that DDs paid us whenever they were working & living with us, into a savings account and gave it back..not as cash but it bought a washing machine & paid moving expenses etc for them ..

M0nica Tue 05-Apr-22 16:41:33

By the way are your son and gf paying for their keep when they are with you? If they are both working, I would expect a monthly payment of several hundred £s a month at least.

I woild probably put it aside for when they needed it as a deposit for a flat, but never tell them that.

vegansrock Tue 05-Apr-22 16:30:41

I think it will just prove too inconvenient to split homes anyway with a baby and all the palaver you need for them. They should stay at her mums as she is so keen.

PECS Tue 05-Apr-22 16:17:41

Baggs Agree that ages of children & grandchildren are not in themselves a problem. We have a wide age range in our family..I am the eldest of 3 well spaced siblings & my DH the youngest , by a good few years, of 4 siblings. Cousins, aunts , uncles, nephews & nieces etc all muddle in and find connections across generations quite happily!

M0nica Tue 05-Apr-22 16:11:55

Lomond I completely understand where you are coming from and how you feel. I feel those who go on about how you will feel when the baby is born are completely barking up the wrong tree. The question of how you feel about the baby when it is born has got nothing to do with your anger with son and gf, who have just conceived a child and have made no plans about how they will manage after the birth, beyond sponging on their parents.

I think they are even more selfish in that they have clearly not wasted a single seconds thought on how this will effect his younger sister who has a diagnosis of autism.

I think these two need to be given a big wake-up call. You need to sit them down and tell them that they cannot live with you. Your responsibilities at work, that your youngest child is autistic, will be more than you could cope with, and if you have a mental breakdown, will they look after you?

The bit that no one is focussing on is that, although you had a baby very young. You did everything you could to stand on your own two feet and support yourself - and did so quite successfully.

Tell them that if their are mature enough to have a child, they are mature enough to make plans for how they are going to support themselves and their child. They need to find somewhere to live, need to plan for the drop in income while she is on maternity leave and need to plan how they will manage about childcare when the gf goes back to work.

I am willing to bet that their ideas for childcare are to assume that their parents will provide it. That you will not, I assume, needs to be said now.

However, one niggle, Your son has clearly grown up with an inflated sense of entitlement, that he can do what he likes how he likes and someone will provide for him. He must have learned that at home. I do think that you need to ask yourself, how far you contributed to him expecting you to subsidise him and perhaps to begin with you could offer them some help with the rent, if they get their own accommodation, not all the rent but some of it and phase it out over two or three years.

Either way you need to make it absolutely clear to your son, that his assumptions of how you are going to support him and his family after the child is born are doomed to disappointment

And when your grandchild is born, you will probably love them, but that is entirely irrelevant to the problem you now have. I would also add, that my DH had aunts who were younger than him and a friend with a large family was pregnant with her eighth child while her daughter was expecting her first. The two boys, now grown up found it hilarious that they were uncle and nephew and could always be guaranteed to misbehave in public shouting 'I am his uncle, he is my nephew' and falling about laughing.

paddyann54 Tue 05-Apr-22 16:06:03

I have a similar tale Lomond my son was 20 when his fairly new GF announced her pregnancy,she had told him she had an implant! I told them I'd support them whatever their decision and when they decIded to make a go of it and have the baby we helped with equipment etc.
Our young couple and baby lived with her parents until my son discovered his partner was sleeping with someone else ,he walked out.He was distraught about losing his wee family and they decided on a 50/50 split of time.Due to work shifts it was easier all round if he brought baby home to us ,Where they stayed until she was 10 .
When he met his new partner and they moved in together wee madam stayed with us as normal...just until we were all sure the new relationship would work .She moved in when Dad told her there was a new baby on the way .She is a joy and a delight and I wouldn't have had it any other way ,she adores her new wee sister but still likes to come "home" to us for the odd night .
Life has a way of working for the best when you least expect it.Whetever we think we have to remember this is new and exciting for them,dont spoil it .I'm sure you can work out different living arrangements if you all pull together .Best wishes for a happy year ahead

Baggs Tue 05-Apr-22 16:00:49

There are (and were) gransnetters who became grans at your age. The ones I know made the most of it.

My youngest was eight when my first grandchild was born to my eldest, who was twenty-eight.

I don't think your problem is about your age. In your position, if I wanted another child myself, I would ask my husband why he thought it was inappropriate now. I used to babysit for a couple whose kids were younger than the grandchildren of one of them (his first wife had died). It didn't appear to be a problem.

PECS Tue 05-Apr-22 15:33:11

It is hard as you will be a young grandparent. You do not appear to feel ""connected" to your son's child & may not particularly like his girlfriend.

But this should be about the unborn child..it did not ask to be conceived.. and not just about convenience, comfort of parents & grandparents.

Not sure if your husband is also your son's dad but if he is then you know that it is possible for relationships to last despite a bumpy start!

I would advise not making an enemy of your grandchild's mother. It is a probably a shock for all concerned.. but the baby deserves the best start in life. You can help with that.

TerriBull Tue 05-Apr-22 15:12:43

Oh I can see how your plans are shot to pieces and of course you're amazingly still very young, I'd just had my second child when I was 36, although 3 years later my younger child became an uncle and my husband became a grandfather for the first time when his eldest from his first marriage became a parent, I certainly didn't want the step granny title then! although I have a good relationship with my lovely step grandchildren they are all adults now. Of course your son and his girlfriend can't take it as given they can live part of the time with you, I think you should have that conversation with them and how moving in, albeit on a ad hoc basis will adversely affect your plans for the future, I think you should state exactly what those plans are.

Please don't reject the grandchild though you may regret that, the circumstances of any child's arrival isn't their choice and they deserve all the love and support extended family are able to give. I was furious when my son and his then girlfriend decided unwisely to start a family, both too young, their relationship was barely a few months old and if a baby hadn't been on the way, it would have run its course in months. Inevitably they split further down the line, at the time they put us through the wringer somewhat we had to stump up a lot of support, financially, emotionally and time wise. After the split we worked hard to have a mutually civil relationship with the mother of our grandchildren and I think we've achieved that now. We see the children at least 3 or 4 days a month at weekends and school holidays, when they stay over at ours with my son. I really wouldn't be without them they have been a source of joy and there is something incredibly important about the continuum in the relationship of children borne of our own children. There are opportunities there with the benefit of hindsight in having a different relationship with them than that of our actual children, not only being that one step back but drawing from the massive learning curve and mistakes that go with being a parent, if that makes any sense.

Maybe as the girlfriend's mother is over the moon she could accommodate them is that a possibility? I wish you all the best in finding a solution,

silverlining48 Tue 05-Apr-22 14:53:45

I expect you are in shock, pretty much as your mum would have been 20 years ago.
A School friend of dh had a son in the same situation. The friend was retired at the time. The couple seemed to move from her family to his and it was disruptive to all concerned especially as they ended up with 3 children before at long last finding a place of their own.
Suggest if the other gran is happy about things, encourage them to live there and if you want another child go ahead, you are still young enough to do so. My dd was only a couple of years younger than you when she had her first child, my grandchild.

Callistemon21 Tue 05-Apr-22 14:43:27

I was 53 when my grandson was born
I think I was quite old for a granny, because I knew I might not live to see my grandson graduate from university
Well, that's depressed me ?
I wasn't a Granny until I was in my 60s!

I dont think moving between the two houses is a good idea at all, Lomond - if your son's GF's mother is happy to have them living there then why don't they do that? They could out their names down for HA accommodation.

Carry on with your own plans, I know of some families where uncles and aunts are the same age as their nephews and nieces (or younger).

Otherwise, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater (sorry for the pun) - you can say No but in a kind, loving way. I'm sure this baby will bring its own love with it and you will adore it if given the chance.

GagaJo Tue 05-Apr-22 14:31:42

Lomond, you could turn this on its head and look at it from another perspective.

I was 53 when my grandson was born. I'd been ready to be a granny for at least 10 years. I think I was quite old for a granny, because I knew I might not live to see my grandson graduate from university. I'd like to see him marry and have children, but due to the age I'll be, may never happen.

You'll be able to experience all of that. How lovely?!