AS ANY mum knows, the hours following childbirth are extremely emotional, challenging and often painful.
Now one woman has revealed how her father-in-law accused her of being too “lazy” to push after an emergency C-section – with the cruel comment ruining a “precious moment”.
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Speaking to Kidspot, the woman revealed how her dad-in-law met his granddaughter the day after she was born.
She says: “I was exhausted after a long labour and an eventual emergency C-section and was sitting on my bed, watching on as he looked at Abi* in my husband’s arms, smiling at her.
“This precious moment, though, was soon ruined when Frank* looked over at me and said, ‘You were too lazy to push, hey?!'”
Although it was framed as a joke, the new mum says she could tell from Frank’s eyes that there was some truth in his jibe.
I was exhausted after a long labour and an eventual emergency C-section. He looked over at me and said, ‘You were too lazy to push, hey?!’
Annoyed mum
She adds: “He loves to share his conservative opinions, even when they are clearly not appreciated, and he doesn’t really care if and when he insults or upsets people.”
And the old-fashioned views didn’t stop there.
Any time the in-laws would visit, Frank would attempt to stop his son doing what he considered ‘women’s duties’ – which included changing nappies, feeding, bathing and even playing with his daughter.
Now a mum-of-three, she still has a strained relationship with her father-in-law.
“Regularly, he explicitly states that ‘children should be seen and not heard’,” she explains.
“The only time that he will engage with the kids is to tell them off, barking comments at them, like ‘elbows off the table’, ‘don’t eat with your mouth open’, ‘boys don’t cry’…”
Frank’s “traditional views” have now driven a wedge between him and his grandkids, who refuse to visit their grandparents and ignore Frank at family events, because he’s made them cry in the past.
She says: “The sexism frustrates me beyond belief but mostly it is such a shame that he chooses to behave this way when he could have such a close and beautiful connection with his grandchildren.”
*Abi and Frank are not their real names
