Between the ridiculous cost of living, current divorce rate, and a rise in the number of working parents in America, it's no wonder many parents are often plagued by childcare woes. Although many turn to day care or hire nannies to care for their children while they're away, an increasing number of millennials are turning to Grandma and/or Grandpa for babysitting help — especially when it's free. But unfortunately for Quayla Ann of Dallas, Texas, that just isn't an option. (At least not when it comes to Grandma.) Her mother recently laid down the law in a rant posted to YouTube, in which she tells her daughter that there's no way she's going to be an on-call babysitter for her grandkids.
Since Quayla first posted the heated video of her mom, it has basically exploded online.
More than 940,000 people have tuned in to watch her mom "set her straight" in the four-minute video, which was posted to YouTube on December 30.
"Let me tell you, the new generation, y'all millennial, you got it all [expletive] up," the grandmother told her daughter, who was capturing the whole thing on video. "Because I became a grandparent does not automatically make me the babysitter or a day care.
"Grandparents — true grandparents — they're supposed to raise their children right to where y'all start having kids, you can … provide for your own children and secure their day care so you can go to work, so you can go out, so you can do anything else," she continued. "True grandparents are supposed to be able to call their grandkids. Y'all supposed to come over and visit."
Quayla's mom has some more choice words when asked if grandmothers should be available to babysit over the summer.
Her mother told her point-blank that the summertime was for "daddies, as y'all got split custody."
You got that?
"Grandparents are supposed to be able to come to your house and stay with you and visit with their grandkids," the grandmother continued. "You are suppose to drop your kids off when the grandparents call for them and in their leisure time. Grandparents are not supposed to be day cares."
The grandmother finally ended her rant by reminding her daughter everyone's time is valuable -- including hers.
"We have our own life," she said. "We worked very hard to get everybody out of the house. Why would we want to raise your kids and keep your kids?"
That doesn't mean she doesn't want to spend time with her grandkids -- but it should be on her time, when grandma wants.
As a grandmother, she's supposed to be able to call mom and say when and where she wants to spend time with them, instead of parents just assuming they can drop them off whenever they want to. "No it ain't supposed to be dropping them off when you want to … No! … It don't go like that. You know why? Because we already had our life with raising kids," she said. "We aren't supposed to be tied down raising (expletive) kids. We're supposed to be gardening, going to the senior citizen's place, bingo … That's what we raise you all for, to be able to take care of your kids."
She also calls it likes she sees it when it comes to the problem with this generation ... and she isn't necessarily wrong.
"Y'all got a sense of entitlement. Y'all think that just because I'm the mom, I'm the grandma, that you're supposed to push your kids off on me. That's not how it goes," she said. "But it takes strong mothers like me to let you know that s–t don't go like that. To get it right."
After raising five kids of her own, she's clear with what she wants for her life.
And it's not others assuming she'll raise her children's children while they go do whatever they want. "I'm here to support … that's what grandparents are supposed to do," said.
And this heated granny adds that it's up to her kids to do what they are supposed to do as a parent and not just assume their mom is going to be there to save them.
Right off the bat, people had some feelings about the grandma's rant.
Most people LOVED that she spoke her mind, because she's right — her time is her time.
"This woman just stated ALL FACTS!!!!" one commenter wrote in the thread to the video.
"She is right," a second person agreed. "She raised her kids already."
"She is 150 percent correct!" another person added.
However, a few people did say that when it comes to child care, Grandma is key.
"I’m a grandma and I help when I can because my mamma helped me when I was raising babies," one woman wrote. "Can’t do it without Grandma."
Another person added that she couldn't keep her own parents away when she had kids.
"Meanwhile, my parents are gonna want to watch my kids all the time, I'm gonna have to tell them no sometimes," the commenter shared. "Lol It really depends on the grandparents … "
"It's interesting to see how different some families are from my own," a third person wrote. "My mom told me she'd be a total baby hog when I have kids, she says she wants to relive being able to hold me."
In the end, when it comes to asking your parents to watch your kids, it all comes down to balance.
Some grandparents love to be 100% involved in their grandkids' lives, whereas others want a little more me time after they've raised their kids. Neither way is "right" or "wrong" — but perhaps this YouTube grandma is right in that we shouldn't assume grandparents are our defacto babysitter at all hours.
