My husband believed paying my mom to babysit our two children was a waste of money. “She should be grateful just to spend time with her grandkids,” he said.
But when he fired her to “save money,” I decided to teach him a lesson in value — the hard way.
Money has a way of revealing people’s true colors.
I learned this the hard way when my husband Miles showed me exactly who he was — not through his words, but through his actions toward my mother.
The day he fired her from watching our kids, he didn’t just break her heart, he shattered my faith in him.
But sometimes, the best lessons come from letting someone experience exactly what they’ve taken for granted. Here’s how it all started…
“We need another baby,” Miles said one evening, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he helped me load the dishwasher.
“Just imagine Evie with a little sister or brother. Don’t you want that for her?”
I placed the last plate in the rack, trying to ignore the way my stomach tightened at his words. “I’m happy with just Evie.
She’s perfect as she is.”
“Come on, Jenny.” He dried his hands and hugged me from behind. “I always dreamed of having a big family. Remember how lonely I was as an only child?” He reached for my hand.
“I promise I’ll help more. You won’t have to do it alone.”
“You say that now, but —”
“I mean it. Every diaper change, every late-night feeding… I’ll be there.
Trust me.”
“Like you were there last night when Evie had a fever?”
His face fell. “That was different. I had the quarterly report due.”
“There’s always something, Miles.”
“This time will be different,” he insisted, pulling me close.
“Whatever happens, we’re in this together. I want us to give Evie the gift of a sibling. Please?”
I should have known better than to believe him.
Nine months later, Amber arrived, all pink cheeks and sleepless nights.
Miles’s promises evaporated like morning dew, leaving me drowning in exhaustion.
“I have an early meeting,” he often mumbled, rolling over as Amber wailed at 3 a.m.
“The presentation’s tomorrow… I really need to focus,” he’d say, while I juggled a fussy baby and a toddler demanding attention.
“Mommy, up!” Evie would plead, while I tried to breastfeed Amber and make dinner simultaneously.
“Just a minute, sweetie,” became my constant refrain, guilt gnawing at me as I watched my firstborn’s face fall.
My mother Wendy, bless her heart, saw me struggling. Sometimes, she’d stop by after her nursing shifts, still in her scrubs, just to give me an hour’s break.
“Jennifer, honey, let me help,” she said one day, watching me try to feed Amber while Evie tugged at my shirt. “I could take early retirement and watch the girls while you two work.”
“Mom, I can’t ask you to quit your nursing job.
You love it.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.” She scooped up Evie, who immediately snuggled into her embrace. “Besides, what’s more important than family?
And frankly, honey, you look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”
“We’d have to pay you,” I insisted. “It’s only fair.”
“Three thousand a month would work,” she said. “Less than you’d pay for daycare, and I’ll cook and clean too.”
When I brought it up to Miles that night, his reaction was immediate.
“Three thousand? Just to watch her own grandkids?”
“She’s giving up her career for us, Miles.”
“It’s called retirement. People do it all the time, Jenny.”
The comments started small but grew more frequent, like poison ivy creeping through our home.
Mom offered to babysit, and it was such a relief — at least for me. But for Miles… well, something else was running through his head.
“Must be nice getting paid to play with your grandkids all day,” Miles would mutter when Mom wasn’t looking.
“The house could be cleaner for what we’re paying,” he grumbled, even though Mom kept our home spotless while managing two small children.
Weeks passed, and one afternoon at work, I was about to hang up after a call with Miles when I heard voices in the background. “Remember to hang up the call when you’re done,” I’d reminded him earlier.
But that day, he hadn’t, and what I heard sent a chill down my spine.
“It’s ridiculous,” he muttered, his voice crackling through the speaker. “Three grand a month for what? She should be grateful we’re letting her spend time with her grandkids.”
I froze, my blood turning to ice as I heard footsteps in the background, then my mother’s voice singing softly to Amber.
“We appreciate everything you’ve done, Wendy,” Miles said, his tone formal and cold.
“But we’ve decided it’s best for you to, uh, move on.”
“Move on?” Mom’s voice wavered slightly.
“It’s just… frankly, it’s not fair to keep paying you when daycare is a more… cost-effective solution.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Then, quietly, Mom said, “If that’s what you both want.”
“It is,” Miles replied quickly.
I heard the gentle sound of a spoon being set down, then Mom’s soft footsteps moving away.
I hung up and called Miles, but he wouldn’t answer. I rushed home to find Mom gone and Miles unrepentant.
“Where is she?” I demanded, bursting through the door.
“How could you tell her to leave?”
He was startled, then narrowed his eyes. “How did you —”
“You didn’t hang up the phone, Miles. I heard everything.”
He shrugged, recovering quickly.
“It’s for the best. She’ll be fine. And we’ll save money.”
“Save money?” I laughed bitterly.
“Let’s see how much we save.”
I tried calling Mom that night, but she wouldn’t pick up. When she finally called back the next day, her voice was brimming with unshed tears.
“I’m fine, Jennifer,” she insisted. “Actually, I’ve already found something new.
The Andersons down the street needed a nanny for their twins. They’re paying more than you did, and they seem to actually appreciate what I do.”
My heart clenched. “Mom, I’m so sorry.
I had no idea he would —”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Maybe it’s for the best. I love you and the girls, but I won’t work where I’m not valued.”
The next few weeks were chaos.
The daycare cost more than we’d paid Mom, and the kids were constantly sick. No more home-cooked meals, no more flexible pickup times, and no more grandmother’s love woven into every moment of their day.
“Another ear infection?” Miles groaned as I hung up with the pediatrician. “That’s the third one this month!”
“That’s what happens when they’re exposed to so many other kids,” I replied, trying to soothe a crying Amber while Evie clung to my leg, also running a fever.
“Well, one of us has to stay home with them,” he said.
“And I have that big client meeting tomorrow.”
“Of course you do,” I whispered.
The breaking point came when Miles was late picking up the girls one evening.
“Seventy-five dollars?” he exploded, waving a late pickup fee notice. “This is highway robbery!”
I saw Mom occasionally at the grocery store, looking happier than ever. “The Andersons are wonderful,” she said one day.
“They actually thanked me yesterday for making dinner. And they’re paying me $4,300 a month now.”
“Maybe we should call Mom,” I suggested innocently to Miles that night.
“Fine,” he growled. “Tell her she can come back.
Same pay.”
I smiled sweetly. “She’s making $4,300 now, Miles. And they appreciate her.”
His face turned red.
“That’s ridiculous! She doesn’t need that much money! We’ll handle this.”
That’s when I knew exactly what he needed: a lesson in reality.
“I have a business trip next week,” I announced casually over breakfast.
“Five days. I’ve already cleared it with your boss… you have the time off to watch the kids.”
“What? But I can’t —”
“Sure you can.
It’s just watching kids all day. How hard could it be? After all, it’s a privilege to spend time with your children, right?”
I packed my bags for the spa resort I’d booked, leaving Miles a detailed schedule of the girls’ routines.
“Don’t worry,” I said, kissing his cheek. “You’ve got this.”
His messages started rolling in by day two:
“How do you get Amber to eat her vegetables?”
“Evie won’t stop crying about her pink cup.”
“The washing machine is making weird noises.”
“Please call me back.”
“I haven’t slept in 48 hours.”
“How does your mom do this all day?”
“PLEASE COME BACK… I’M SORRY.”
I turned off my phone and ordered another massage.
When I finally returned home, the house looked like a tornado had hit it. Toys littered every surface, dishes filled the sink, and laundry overflowed from the hampers.
Miles sat on the couch, unshaven and hollow-eyed, surrounded by chaos. Both girls were eating cereal straight from the box.
“Your mother,” he said hoarsely, “is a saint.”
I set down my bags. “Oh?”
“I was wrong.
So wrong.” He ran his hands through his greasy hair. “I’ll apologize to her. Whatever she wants to be paid, it’s worth it.
More than worth it. Please, just ask her to come back.”
“And?”
“And I’m sorry. To you.
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