Grandma was misguiding 6-yr-old granddaughter with inappropriate gift — her mom had a bold response

The mom was not putting up with the grandmother encouraging and exposing her daughter to reckless ideas.

PUBLISHED MAR 18, 2025

(L) Little girl holding doll and playing. (R) Grandmother handing over a gift to granddaughter. (Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | (L) Polsie Toys; (R) Antoni Shkraba)

Parents often have rules about what is age-appropriate and what their kids need to be exposed to so they can control what they are influenced by. A mom, u/fanggoria, revealed that when her mother-in-law overstepped her boundaries, she had a bold response to render. The grandma had brought an unacceptable gift for her granddaughter that was misguiding the 6-year-old. However, the mom refused to put up with it. “My daughter has always had a fascination with babies and pregnancy. When she was as young as 2, she used to shove stuffed animals up her shirt and pretend it was a pregnant belly," the mom said.

Little girl playing with doll. (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Photo by cottonbro studio)

“She's always pretending her Barbies or other dolls are pregnant and she's always loved playing with baby dolls,” the mom explained. It was a fairly adorable fascination as long as it was controlled and supervised. Unfortunately, the mother-in-law, who had “spoiled my daughter rotten,” messed things up. “I want my daughter to have a good relationship with her grandparents, but it gives me pause that it seems they let her do whatever she wants when she's over there visiting them,” the mom revealed. She was disappointed to find out that her mother-in-law had purchased some gifts for her daughter without her knowledge.

Infant and mom toy dolls to play. (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Photo by Pixabay)

“I asked my daughter what she bought her and my daughter informed me she purchased 2 fake pregnancy bellies for her to wear,” she wrote. The mom acknowledged that her daughter might only play at home, but found it inappropriate for a 6-year-old (almost 7). She didn’t want her daughter to be misguided and develop an inappropriate fascination. Unfortunately, the grandmother was enticing her with her gifts. “I don't think her grandparents should necessarily be promoting this interest,” she added. Also, the mom explained how her mother-in-law had previously disregarded the mom’s rules about watching limited YouTube.

Grandmother talking to granddaughter. (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Photo by Mikhail Nilov)

“I believe her grandmother allows her unlimited access to YouTube and my daughter will watch videos where the MC (main character) is pregnant, which is what I think stemmed her fascination with pregnancy in the first place,” she noted. Despite voicing her opinions, they “were not taken seriously.” “I'm uncomfortable with them encouraging my 6-year-old to pretend she's pregnant, but mother-in-law acts like it's no big deal and that I'm the jerk for perceiving it as weird,” she added. As a response, the woman discussed with her husband, who in turn asked his mother to return the fake bellies.

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The mother-in-law didn’t take the request well. She claimed she was "just trying to do something nice" and “thinks we're being harsh.” She got upset about their reaction to the gift, but users supported the parents. u/Fickle_Toe1724 said, “Your mother-in-law crossed the line. You have a say about what is and isn’t allowed for your child. Cut the mother-in-law off.” u/ritesideuppineapple added, “Stuffing baby dolls and stuffed animals under her shirt is totally normal and cute. Buying a literal child fake preggo bellies is just plain weird and taking things way too far.” u/Hirann remarked, “If your in-laws aren't respecting your boundaries as a parent, you need to cut off the unsupervised time with them.”