The topic was recently raised in Dear Abby by Abigail Van Buren, who is also known as world-famous advice columnist Jeanne Phillips.
An “unappreciated grandma” wrote in to Abby looking for help, venting her frustration after her son and daughter-in-law rejected advice offered up based on her “years of experience”.
“Whatever happened to respecting one’s elders and recognising grandparents as head of the family?” she wrote, explaining how she and her son’s wife had had disagreements regarding her grandson during a recent visit.
The grandmother was clearly put out by her daughter-in-law’s lack of ‘respect for her years of experience as a mother’ and her decision to ‘ignore her instructions and advice’.
“After I returned home, I was told by my son that I was no longer welcome to visit my grandchild unless I apologised to his wife for trying to undermine her parenting. I told him she should apologise to me for not showing me respect as the grandmother,” she added.
She went on to ask Abby for advice on how best to make her son see that his wife was in the wrong.
While Abby urged the grandmother to detach herself from the situation and see that “showing respect and following your orders are not the same thing”, readers had some more colourful responses.
A number of readers branded the grandmother controlling, with others praising the son for not bowing to his mother’s orders.
What are your thoughts?
