To make it easier, I gave her $1,000 for groceries and anything else they might need so that Jean doesn’t waste her savings. Jean was thrilled. She assured me that they’d be well-fed and healthy.
But when I came to pick them up a week later, expecting to see them happy with Grandma, I WAS HORRIFIED.
Everything Jean promised was a lie. She lied about being the perfect picture of a perfect Grandma. But the reality turned out to be awful for my kids.
“What’s going on, Jean?”
When my mother-in-law, Jean, offered to take my kids for a holiday break, I thought it was harmless—a chance for some bonding and a break for me. I gave her $1,000 for expenses, expecting a fun week for the kids. But when I picked them up, something felt off. The house was eerily quiet, and when I found my kids in the backyard, they were exhausted and covered in dirt, having spent the week working in the garden instead of having fun.
Jean admitted she’d used the money for personal expenses, putting my kids to work to save money. Furious, I confronted her. She tried to justify it as a lesson in hard work, but I knew it was wrong. I took my kids and left, vowing never to return until Jean learned to respect them as children, not tools for her own needs.
