I still can’t wrap my head around what my mother-in-law did recently. Last weekend, she actually took back the bike she gave my daughter Emily—right in front of her and my son Max. Honestly, I can still picture the look on their faces.
So, a couple of weeks ago, Janet (my MIL) brought over this adorable pink bike for Emily. Streamers, basket, tiny bell—the works. You should’ve seen Emily’s face; she was completely in love, and she rode up and down the block for hours. For a minute there I thought Janet was gunning for Grandma of the Year.
Fast forward to last Saturday, Janet popped by unannounced as usual. I offered her coffee, thinking she stopped by to see the kids, but no. She was there for another reason, one that shocked me.
After a couple of minutes, my mother-in-law dropped the bomb: “I need to take that bike back.”
I actually laughed at first because, come on, what? Emily and Max were playing in the living room, but didn’t hear their grandma’s shocking words. Janet’s face was dead serious, and that’s when I knew she meant what she demanded.
Her explanation? Apparently, she promised that exact same bike to her neighbor’s granddaughter but somehow “forgot,” so she just gave it to Emily instead. And now, she wanted to “fix” that mistake by taking the gifted bike back while my kids were right there, watching.
When Emily saw her grandma taking the bike, she rushed towards it and grabbed it by the handlers, looking at me, totally lost. “But Grandma, you gave me this bike,” she said. Max was just standing there all puzzled. Janet, meanwhile, already untangled the handlebars from Emily’s fingers, saying, “You’ll get another one soon. This one needs to go back.”
I tried to quietly signal Janet to please, for the love of all that is holy, not do that right there and then. However, her answer was, “She’ll outgrow it in a year. I’ll make it up to her.”
Yeah, she actually took it. Walked out the door while Emily sobbed and Max hugged her, not really understanding why his big sister was so upset.
A few days later, my husband and I bought Emily a new bike, and although she like it, she said it wasn’t as pretty as her old one.
Honestly, I still can’t believe Janet did what she did. I haven’t spoken to her ever since and I refuse to let the kids speak to her as well. And although my husband knows his mom is definitely on the wrong here, he insists I am being too harsh so I’m not really sure which one of us is right.
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