Grandmother unfairly criticised for encouraging healthy snacks for hungry grandkids

In a tale as old as time, the generational clash over parenting practices has once again reared its head, leaving a grandmother on the receiving end of criticism from her own daughter.

The controversy? A seemingly innocent suggestion to have the grandkids snack on fruit before dinner.

The grandmother, who has been dutifully babysitting her grandchildren after school, found herself in hot water after Tim, a hungry 12-year-old, expressed his desire for an early dinner. Unfazed, she suggested a healthy snack to tide him over until the evening meal, a move that triggered a series of events leading to a family dispute.

“I don’t know if I did anything wrong. I have been babysitting the kids after school at least once a week. I usually make some dinner and we eat usually around 6. Today I was babysitting and the kids came home. Tim 12 was especially hungry and asked me to start dinner at 4,” she shared on Reddit. 

“I told him to go eat some fruit as a snack and wait for dinner. He told me he didn’t want fruit and asked me to make the food now. I told him no, that he can eat a snack. He was pissy the rest of the night.

“My daughter came home a little after 7 and Tim went up to her claiming I starved him and wouldn’t make dinner early. I explained I offered him some fruit to tide him over and he didn’t want it.

“This is we’re an argument started, my daughter saying if one kid wants dinner now then I make dinner. I told her I offered a snack and he can wait he is fine. I am not babysitting for her anymore, she is pissed about that and thinks I am a jerk.”

Support flooded in for the grandmother from fellow users who applauded her for standing her ground.

“I can remember my mother saying the exact same thing to me if I complained I was hungry before dinner. A healthy, light snack is perfectly appropriate in such a case. Your daughter’s reaction was absolutely horrible,” one user wrote.

“You’re their grandparent not a short order cook. Sounds like your daughter is raising her kids to be entitled little shits.”

“If your daughter wants to let her kids run her life she can do that, but nah, she doesn’t get to dictate when you make dinner in your own damn home, especially when a snack was offered. That kid sounds spoiled, if she keeps teaching him it’s okay to behave that way she’s going to have a nightmare on her hands when he’s older,” commented another.

“You are right to stop babysitting for your daughter. She’s ungrateful for your help and doesn’t deserve it. You’re not a servant to be bossed around by a child.”

“Kids shouldn’t run the household. Asking for food is perfectly fine. Demanding and catering to those demands isn’t. Fruit is perfectly acceptable after school snack.”

As the debate continues, it remains to be seen whether this family feud will be resolved or if it will serve as a cautionary tale for others navigating the delicate dynamics of intergenerational childcare.