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NEED TO KNOW
A woman says she picked up her two-year-old son from spending the day with his grandparents to find that his hair had been cut – and she wasn’t asked in advance
In a post shared anonymously to Reddit, the woman writes that her son is nonverbal and typically “hates” his head and neck to be touched
Now, she wants to know if she should approach her in-laws about the situation, or let it be
A woman was left fuming after she picked her son up from spending the day with his grandparents to find that his hair had been cut – and his “beautiful curls” were gone.
In a post shared to Reddit, the woman writes that her son is two years old and nonverbal, with hair that typically goes past his shoulders.
“He isn’t bothered by his hair, and he hates his head and neck being touched, so I don’t cut it,” she writes, adding that when she picked him up from his grandparent’s house, “his hair was clearly rough-chopped above his shoulders.”
“One little section was missed so there’s some clear evidence it was done,” she adds.
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Now, the woman writes, she is upset: “Not only did no one ask, or tell me this was done, but the feeling of not being able to defend him while he can’t even communicate clearly, is devastating to me.”
“I feel justified in my anger, but at the same time, not? I don’t know how to approach this because we have a strained but civil relationship with our in-laws as it is,” she adds. “I want to say something, but I can’t even think of how to approach it because of past arguments always being twisted and flipped back on me as the bad guy. We’ve already limited visits before due to issues we raised and not being heard.”
Others on Reddit are offering their advice, with many siding with the poster for feeling upset in the first place.
“Forget worrying about being the ‘bad guys.’ Grandparents violated your son and your trust,” writes one commenter. “Time to protect your son from people (grandparents) who violate your son, especially since he cannot express himself. If this was me, I would firmly discuss this with grandparents and then tell them they can never, I repeat, never be alone with your child again.”
Adds another: “You’re not just justified, you’re underreacting. Someone crossed a hard boundary, violated your kid’s body, ignored his sensory needs and did it without telling you.”