Grandma Wins The Internet's Praise For Respecting Her Son's Parenting Rules

Kasia Mikolajczak
grandmother and child
Unsplash | Sergiu Vălenaș

When you have kids, it's a joyous occasion. But once those kids grow up, they develop their own sense of being. And once your children start having their own kids, it's a whole new ballgame, huh?

Often grandparents can try to influence the way their kids raise the grandkids, but that's not the case with this one grandma who recently went viral on TikTok. She has a different approach, and it's really refreshing to see.

TikTok user @gwenith_rachelle is a mom to five and grandma to one.

person holding cellphone with TikTok screen
Unsplash | Aaron Weiss

She has frequently stepped in to babysit her grandson. But when she saw a video on TikTok with one grandmother frowning upon receiving instructions from her kids on how to take care of her grandchildren she wanted to chime in.

So, she stitched together a video of her own.

In it, she talks about being happy to receive detailed instructions on how to take care of her grandson. It's not that she isn't able to figure it out herself, it's about respecting the parents' wishes.

Everybody has a different parenting style.

parents with two kids sitting in a forest
Unsplash | John-Mark Smith

And just because Gwenith raised five children, it doesn't mean she has to do it the same way with her grandkids. In fact, she's happy to ask her son and daughter-in-law to give her instructions.

Here's her take on it:

woman pointing a finger and saying "that's right."
Giphy | iOne Digital

She stresses that being a grandma has nothing to do with flaunting your experience or strong-arming your kids into doing things her way. It’s about respect. She wants to help her children raise their kids how they want to.

So when she receives directions on feeding schedules and so on she welcomes them.

Hand holding up a smartphone with the tiktok logo on the screen.
Unsplash | Solen Feyissa

After she posted her video to TikTok a lot of people chimed in with their opinions. Many of them were parents who appreciated her comments.

These parents felt validated by what she was saying.

Phebie from Friends saying "Well done. bravo."
Giphy | Friends

I guess they must've experienced some meddling in their families, and they were glad to see somebody stand up for them. Gwenith believes that it's not beneficial to anyone to belittle your children for their parenting style.

She got many comments like these below.

TikTok comments
TikTok | TikTok | @gwenith_rachelle

I guess it really resonated with a lot of people. I know it can be tough sometimes for parents to put their foot down because they don't want to hurt the grandparents' feelings.

But in the end, it's your child and the grandparents need to respect your wishes.

TikTok comment about babies safety
TikTok | TikTok | @gwenith_rachelle

Somebody also brought up this important issue. Things might have changed since grandparents had kids and there is a lot more safety information available to parents these days.

So what do you think about this?

Steve Carrell saying "That's a good point. She has a good point."
Giphy | The Office

Do you agree with this grandma and the way she deals with her grandkids? I think it's really cool that she's open to receiving instructions from her kids. That is the only way you can keep a good relationship and let the kids know you have their back, no?