A mom admitted that she’s incredibly angry after learning that her mother-in-law put her 13-month-old daughter’s life in danger by purposefully giving her a disease.
Posting to the subreddit r/relationships, the 27-year-old woman claimed that her mother-in-law crossed a line after exposing the young girl to chickenpox, and as a result, she didn’t want her around her baby anymore.
Her mother-in-law ‘deliberately’ infected her daughter with chickenpox to ‘build up her immunity.’
“Earlier this year my husband and I decided to spend Christmas with his family for the first time since my daughter was born last September. Since they live 12 hours away, we decided to stay for a few weeks before Christmas so they could spend loads of time with Annie,” she began in her Reddit post.
She explained that when they first arrived, things were great. Despite a few arguments with her mother-in-law, Trish, about her parenting style, which has been a hot topic, from using disposable diapers for Annie to buying baby food at the grocery store instead of making it fresh at home.
A couple of days into their trip, she and her husband decided to pick up a few gifts at the mall with her father-in-law while Trish volunteered to watch Annie while everyone was gone.
“We got back a few hours later, and Annie was down for a nap on a blanket I didn’t recognise. Trish said one of her friends dropped by and gave it as an early Christmas gift. It looked pretty old/worn, but I figured one of her hippy friends was just recycling it,” she continued.
However, just a short time later, she noticed her daughter was fidgeting and crying nonstop. When she took Annie’s temperature, she learned that her 13-month-old daughter had a fever, so she kept an eye on her, and eventually, the fever went down.
Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the end of her sickness, and her daughter started developing a rash and blisters on her arms and legs.
Freaking out, the mom rushed her daughter to the doctor to see what was wrong when she noticed a rash and blisters on her body.
As she was packing her daughter’s bag to go to the hospital, her mother-in-law walked up to ask what she was doing. She explained the rash that she’d seen on Annie’s skin, and her mother-in-law didn’t seem surprised at all. In fact, she described Trish as having a “smug smile” on her face about the entire debacle.
According to Pamperschickenpox is usually a mild disease, but it can be serious in babies under 12 months, especially if born prematurely or with a compromised immune system.
While this woman’s daughter was over 12 months old, she hadn’t yet gotten vaccinated against the disease as her appointment was forthcoming.
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When she questioned her mother-in-law about the look on her face, Trish admitted that, without even looking at the baby, it was most likely chickenpox. Her mother-in-law claimed that one of her friends’ grandkids had chickenpox recently, so she asked her friend to bring over the blanket that had been rubbed all over the child’s arms, legs, and face.
Of course, Annie’s mother was furious, as any parent would be.
To deliberately give a child chickenpox is both dangerous and incredibly wrong. She tried to defend her decision by saying “chickenpox was the best and most natural thing” for her daughter to have as it would “build up her immunity.”
“We drove to see the doctor, and he confirmed she had it. He said I’ll have to cut Annie’s nails short and might have to tape socks on her hands while she sleeps because kids so young can scratch until they bleed and that will leave scars.”
Considering there is such a thing as the chickenpox vaccine meant that her daughter wouldn’t have ever had to go through something like that, and it’s especially concerning since having chickenpox can increase a child’s chances of getting shingles later in life as the virus stays in their body and reactivates later.
Her husband tried to make excuses for his mother’s behavior.
On the drive back to their house, her husband tried to defend his mother’s actions, arguing that she was only doing what was best for their daughter. She couldn’t believe that her husband wasn’t as mad as she was, especially considering his mother “doing her best” was putting their daughter in danger and jeopardizing her health over a sickness that could’ve been avoided entirely.
“Annie’s been scratching like crazy and I just had to tape socks over her hands. Trish tried to talk to me when we got back and I told her to get out of my sight. I’m so angry I can’t even think. I don’t ever want to see her again or let my daughter see her again.”
Truthfully, her husband should understand the severity of his mother’s actions and that building up a child’s immunity doesn’t mean giving them the disease but rather taking precautions, whether that’s in the form of vitamins or nutritious foods.
There are definitely other ways to ensure a child is healthy, and to do something like that behind a parent’s back is even worse.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.
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