Viral Video: Grandma’s Take on Disagreeing with Your Child’s Parenting

Grandparents are truly a blessing. From helping out around the house to being the best babysitters, there’s nothing they can’t do. But amidst play dates, dinners, car rides, vacations and more there are bound to be a few times when what Grandma or Grandpa feels is right doesn’t quite match up with Mom and Dad had in mind.

Enter TikTok user @mommom.maria, a grandma herself who has turned her profile into a treasure trove of advice for parents and grandparents. To help you sort out what to do when you disagree with your grown child’s parenting style, Maria shared her own story filled with relatable moments and golden advice in a now viral video.

“If I don’t agree with every little decision that my daughter makes for the baby, I usually don’t say anything. Sometimes I can’t help myself. and when it came to this I couldn’t help myself, I had to say something,” she says at the start of the video. Maria explains that her 13-month-old granddaughter, Prue, gets two bottles a day: one in the morning and one at night. Pretty standard stuff, right? Well, the disagreement came when it was time for that second bottle—or, in this case, a straw cup.

“My husband and I were babysitting the other night and my daughter said to put her milk before bed in this,” Maria says, showing a sippy cup with a straw. “I resisted because in my head she’s still a baby! She’s 13 months old. She’s just a baby! But it’s not my decision. I’m not the decision-maker. I’m not the mom: I’m the Mom-Mom, the privileged Mom-Mom that gets to babysit her.”

So, like any wise Mom-Mom not looking to start a fight and risk losing babysitting privileges, Maria agreed to give Prue her nightly milk in the special sippy cup. Unsurprisingly, it went over swimmingly. “She drank it. She didn’t resist or cry for her bottle or anything,” she added. “So I guess my daughter was right and that’s really what I wanted to say to the other grandmothers. You don’t have to agree but you have to do it.”

In the comments, parents eagerly agreed with Maria’s advice and applauded her respectful decision. “I was getting ready to tussle but glad I’m on the grandma’s respecting their kids’ decisions side, wrote one commenter. “I told my Mom and MIL this: ‘I’m not saying you’re wrong with how you chose to do things with your kids. I just do things differently.’ Helped a lot!” added one mom. “Thank you! Because I’m not doing things differently to judge my mom or mil. I’m just doing things that work for me and my babies,” wrote another.

If you are a grandparent or parent struggling to see eye-to-eye, you aren’t alone. Check out these 10 ways to get off on the right foot as a grandparent and restart your relationship centered on respect today.