Abuelitas are supposed to be the nicest thing on earth. All the memories I have of my own abuelita are full of love, laughter, warmth and tenderness. In fact, there was never ever a time when I didn't feel protected when my grandma was by my side. I'm pretty sure my children will be able to say the same about both their abuelitas and not because one of them is my mom, but because they truly love my children to death.
So imagine how horrified I was when I read about a grandmother in Wales who rubbed her 3-year-old grandson's face in his own urine causing burns on his face and ear from being dragged across the carpet.
Why did this crazy woman do this? Because the boy had an accident in her new carpet! Now the 51-year-old grandma has been ordered to wear an electronic tag after being found guilty of causing actual bodily harm to her grandson. And, I imagine, she has been banished from his and her daughter's life forever because, I mean, that's what I would do.
Listen, I'm in the middle of the (horrible) process of potty training my 2-year-old son. So I know all about how exasperating it can be and how much patience one has to have while doing this. Children have accidents and while these might not be a big deal, it does get old to have to clean pee and poop for several days straight until they figure it out. But it would never EVER occur to me to even scream at my child after he has an accident because these kinds of things happen and they're part of the process.
I don't even want to begin to imagine what the mother of this child must have said to this evil grandmother. Nor can I imagine what would possibly make her do something so utterly despicable. I guess I just have to thank my lucky stars for being blessed with an amazingly loving abuelita and the same goes for my kids.
What would you do if your mother or mother-in-law did something like this to one of your children?
