Grandma sneaks off with her 6-month-old grandchild to get a secret baptism against the parents' will, loses babysitting rights as soon as Mom and Dad find out: ‘She had no right to take my child anywhere without telling me’

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Apr 3, 2025 6:00 PM EDT

Becoming a grandparent is the best thing in the world. You take away the drama and the stress of raising a kiddo and you're left with the chillest part of being a kid's guardian: Spoiling. You get to take the kid to Disneyland, you get to shower them with gifts even when it's not their birthday, you get to teach them how to bake and how to sew, and you can be the loudest cheerer in the audience at their soccer games. Leave the heavy-duty parenting to the real parents of this kid, you've earned a well-deserved break from childrearing. 

Most grandmas and grandpas relish their newfound freedom as grandparents, but the newbie granny in this next tale took things a bit too far with her 6-month-old granddaughter and it's cost her nearly everything. 

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  • Perhaps there are limits to a grandparent's responsibility, with the cardinal rule circling Mom and Dad's wishes for their child. Regardless of how you think this tiny human should be raised, ultimately, as a grandparent, it's not up to you. But this baptism-insistent mother-in-law thought she could get away with going behind her son and daughter-in-law's back by stealing their baby for the evening, but she was sorely mistaken. 

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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "AITA for refusing to let my mother-in-law babysit after she tried to sneak my baby to church for a secret baptism?"

    I (30F) have a six-month-old baby girl with my husband (32M). We are not religious, and we both agreed we wouldn't baptize our child. My MIL, however, is very religious and has been pushing
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  • for a baptism since the day our daughter was born. We've told her multiple times that it's not happening. Last weekend, MIL offered to babysit so we could have a date
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  • night. She's watched our daughter a couple of times before with no issues, so I didn't think much of it. We were out for about two hours when I got a weird feeling and decided to
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  • check the baby monitor app on my phone. It connects to a camera in the nursery, but when I pulled it up, the crib was empty. I immediately called MIL, and she
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  • didn't pick up. I called again—no answer. At this point, I was panicking. My husband and I rushed to her house, but she wasn't there either. After about 20 minutes, she finally called me
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  • back and casually told me she had taken my baby to church for a "quick blessing." I lost it. I told her she had no right to take my child anywhere without telling me, especially not
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  • to a church for something we explicitly said no to. She tried to justify it, saying she was "saving our daughter's soul" and that we'd "thank her one day."
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  • I told her she would never be babysitting again. She freaked out, saying I was being unfair and overreacting. My husband backed me up, but now the whole family is against us. They're
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  • saying I'm being "cruel" for banning a grandmother from babysitting over "just a blessing." Some even said I should be "grateful" that she cares so much.
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  • I don't care-l feel completely violated. But now I'm wondering, am I overreacting? AITA?
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • LouieAvalon Mac ΝΤΑ So was is a formal baptism or just a blessing? I would formally email MILS church minister - better still - go in person
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  • Tell the minister he performed a baptism on your child without your consent and give details about time, place etc Tell the minister you intend to write a formal complaint to his governing church head about this
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  • This is MILs consequence OP. She will be summoned and there will be trouble for her, in her church where her social standing is so important she'd
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  • take her grandchild and get them baptised against the will of the parents She'd never have her grandchildren unsupervised again either ever. -
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  • ForwardPlenty NTA. She broke a boundary, took the kiddo from your house, and then tried to have her baptized. That is strictly in the parents wheelhouse, she knows that, which is why she waited until she had the
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  • child alone to sneak around and do it without your knowledge. If she is willing to do that, she would be willing to do anything, because she wants it, not because it is okay with you. So it would be a hard no to her ever having alone time with the child in the future.
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  • avid-learner-bot NTA... f that MIL. Secretly whisking the kid off to church for a baptism, violating explicit boundaries? That's some next level crazy sh. The parents are right to cut her off from babysitting duties, no question.
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  • This ain't about being "cruel" or whatever, it's about protecting your own child from someone who can't respect basic boundaries. The MIL needs to get a grip before she gets smacked down real hard
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  • firefly232 If you know which church she went to, make a formal complaint through their process. And definitely don't let her have any unsupervised access to the child. Tell extended family who complain that she is always free to see the child, but at your house.
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  • rcf_111 NTA. I wouldn't let that MIL anywhere near my child again, or at least for a good few years.
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  • ChiWhite Sox24 NTA - I would've called the police and reported the child missing and then file a restraining order against her. She would never see my child again. What an absolute unhinged freak.
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  • DaphneDreamer she kidnapped your baby for a secret ritual after you explicitly said no. If she can't respect basic parental boundaries, she doesn't get unsupervised time with your child, period.
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  • ConfusedAt63 NTA, no one has the right to make decisions for your child but you. Perhaps making a few decisions for MIL without her consent will teach her a lesson?
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