Reddit Stories - My RELATIVE by MARRIAGE SNEAKILY brought my infant to the shopping center and

Episode Date: November 1, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #familydrama #secretouting #parentingdilemma #relationshipissues #ethicaldilemmaSummary: My relative by marriage sneakily brought my infant to the shopping center, causing a heated family dispute. I am torn between confronting them and maintaining family harmony.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, familydrama, secretouting, parentingdilemma, relationshipissues, ethicaldilemma, familydispute, confrontation, familyharmony, relativebymarriage, infant, shoppingcenter, sneakybehavior, heatedargument, familyconflict, personalboundariesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My relative by marriage sneakily brought my infant to the shopping center and had her ears pierced without our consent. Then when we confronted her she fabricated accusations to law enforcement and child services. Services I'm a 29-year-old woman, my husband is 31, and we have a six-month-old baby girl. My mother-in-law, 56F, has been way overbearing ever since our daughter was born. Some background, Mill always had a bit of my way or the highway energy, but we mostly managed

her by setting small boundaries. Since the baby, though, she's acted like our child as her due over baby. It's been exhausting. Here's what happened. Two days ago, Mill was babysitting our daughter at our place. This was the first time I'd ever left the baby alone with her, because frankly I didn't trust her completely. But my husband and I had an appointment and Mill insisted she could handle a few hours. We laid out clear rules, no taking the baby out of the house, no unapproved visitors, and definitely no doing anything permanent like ear piercing. Yes, we actually had to say that because she'd been hinting about piercing our baby's ears since week one. She agreed to all of it. I even wrote down the baby's feeding schedule and said we'd be back in about

two hours. Well, our appointment ended early, so we came home an hour ahead of schedule. The first red flag, the house was dead quiet. We walked in and no one was there. The baby's diaper bag was gone, stroller gone, Mill and baby gone. I immediately felt a pang of panic. We tried calling Mill's cell, no answer. My husband tried, too. Straight to voicemail. We were both freaking out, calling over and over. After about 20 minutes, which felt like an eternity, Mill finally finally called back, sounding annoyed. She said the baby is fine, we're out shopping. I was trying to keep my cool, but I basically yelled that she needed to get her ass back now. She tried to argue that she was just at the mall 10 minutes away and it was no big deal. I was furious and told her we never gave permission for a mall trip and she had exactly 20 minutes to get home where I was calling the police. She scoffed and said we were overreacting, but she did come back pretty quick after that. When Mill walked in, I was on her the second she stepped through the door. Our baby was

thankfully okay, she'd been fed and was giggling, which almost made me angrier in the moment because Mill acted like, see, everything's fine. But then I noticed my baby had her ears pierced. Two little gold studs glaring at me, basically. I honestly almost lost it right there. I asked, more like shouted, what did you do? And Mill rolled her eyes and said, it's just ear-piercing. All baby girls in our culture have it done early. I had my sister's daughter done it five months. She hardly cried, stop being so dramatic. I was livid. I admit I screamed at her that she had no right to make that decision or take the baby out without asking. My husband was furious too, though he was quieter than me. He kept saying, Mom, you crossed a line,

this is not okay. The argument blew up from there. Mill got defensive, yelling that we're ungrateful and she has the right to take her grandbaby out and do things for her. She said, you two are first-time parents, you don't know what you're doing. I've raised three kids, and I know what's best for my grandchild. I about exploded hearing that. I told her if that's how she feels, she has no business babysitting or even being around our daughter unsupervised because she clearly doesn't respect us as parents. It got heated and voices were definitely raised by everyone. I'll admit I said something bad in the heat of the moment. Mill started bawling, like instant waterworks and shouting about how I'm taking her granddaughter away. She accused me

of trying to push her out of her son's life. That made my husband snap back that his wife and child come first now, and if she can't accept that, it's her own fault. I think that shocked her because he's usually pretty chill and not one to talk back to his mom. At this point, I was literally shaking with anger and had to step away and take the baby to the nursery because I didn't want our girl hearing all this yelling, even if she's too young to understand the vibe itself was bad. My husband eventually got Mill to leave. I didn't hear every word since I was calming the baby, but it was a lot of her shrieking that were cruel and my husband telling her to get out and cool off. He told her not to come back or contact us until we reach out.

We had to spend that night cleaning and disinfecting my baby's ear piercings with our pediatrician on call instructing us, because, of course, Mill didn't even ask what metal would be safe or consider that we might have wanted it done by a professional with us present, or not done at all. We hadn't decided yet. It's not even about the piercing itself. It's that she violated our trust and boundaries in multiple ways in one day. Now it's the next night and things have only gotten more chaotic. Mill has been blowing up my husband's phone with texts alternating between apology and accusation. On top of that, apparently Mill has started telling the rest of the family her twisted version of events. We've received calls from my husband's sister and a couple of aunties essentially saying your mom is really upset. She says you won't let her see the baby and she only took the baby for a little outing. You know how she is. She didn't mean any harm. We haven't even had a chance to tell her. our side to everyone yet. My husband explained to his sister how Mill completely broke our trust and his sister did agree that their mom can be too much, but she also urged us to work it out

for the family's sake. Easy to say when it's not her infant who was taken and altered without permission. I'm sticking to my guns that Mill will not be alone with our child again anytime soon, if ever. My husband is on the same page. He even said maybe we should take a break from seeing her at all for a while. I know that's going to cause a huge family rift, and honestly the drama's already started as I mentioned. I've got anxiety through the roof now. So I need some advice. Are we doing the right thing by keeping Mill away?

How do we enforce this without blowing up the entire family? We're considering telling everyone that any further harassment will just extend the time out longer. Also, should we do something about the ear-piercing incident beyond just being angry? Like, part of me wants to report it or at least make sure it's on record in case she tries anything in the future. I don't know if that's too extreme. We haven't responded to Mill's texts yet or the Flying Monkey Relatives beyond a brief. She violated our trust, we need space. I kind of feel guilty because I know Mill loves our daughter, but I'm also furious and feel betrayed. I've never dealt with a boundary stomp this massive before. If anyone's been through something

similar, I'd love to hear how you handled it. I don't want to cut my mill out completely if this can be fixed, but right now I don't even want to see her face. My husband and I are united on this, but it's still tough since it's his mom and all. Thanks in advance for reading and any suggestions. I'll check back later. Right now I'm going to try to actually get some sleep if I can. My nerves are shot. Update 1, 3 days later. I finally have a few minutes to up. date. So, we've been holding firm on not seeing or talking to Mill until we're ready. My husband sent a very clear text to her the morning after my post, saying, what you did was completely out of line. We need space. We'll reach out when we're ready. Do not show up

unannounced. He also emphasized that our daughter is not to see her until we say so, and any attempts to go around us will make things worse. She didn't take that well, no surprise. She blew up his phone with calls, which he ignored, and a bunch of angry texts. At that point, my husband stopped reading her rant and just archived the messages for evidence. Yep, evidence, because we decided to cover our bases legally. A lot of commenters and a friend of mine, who's a lawyer, albeit in another state, suggested we document everything and consider talking to a family lawyer. We haven't officially lawyered up yet, but we did have a consultation with a local family

attorney yesterday. Mostly to ask about grandparents' rights in our state and what to do if Mill escalates. Thankfully, in our state, grandparents can't just demand visitation if both parents are in agreement to keep someone away, so Mill doesn't have a legal leg to stand on there. The lawyer did advise us to send a formal cease and desist letter if her harassment continues or if she threatens to pursue legal action. We're holding off on that for now, but it's good to know it's an option. Also, turns out Mill's ominous you're not the only ones with rights text could be her ignorant bluff, because again, she actually doesn't have any legal right here as long as we're deemed fit parents. Still, we're not taking chances. In the meantime, we've taken some practical

steps. We notified our daycare about the situation. Baby is supposed to start daycare part-time next month when I go back to work. We gave a photo of Mill and explicitly said she is not allowed to pick up our child under any circumstances. The daycare staff were understanding. Apparently they've seen their fair share of family drama and unauthorized pick-up attempts, so they have our back. We also informed our pediatrician in case Mill tries to call pretending to be us or something weird. I wouldn't put it past her at this point. The family gossip slash drama train is still going at full speed. Over the last couple of days, my husband has spoken to his dad, and his sister to set the record straight. Phil was pretty quiet on the phone, but he basically

pleaded for a compromise, saying your mom means well, maybe just talk it out. He also dropped the line you know how your mother is. My husband responded, yes, I do, and that's the problem. She went way overboard. He told Phil that until Mill can sincerely apologize and show she'll respect our parenting decisions, there's nothing to discuss. Phil sighed but said he understood we're upset. It's clear he's stuck in the middle and just hoping this blows over. Myasail, husband's sister, was more supportive. She told us that after hearing our side in detail, she totally gets why we're angry.

Apparently, when Sale confronted Mill and said why on earth would you pierce the baby's ears without asking them? Mill flipped it around and played victim again. She told Sale that I, O.P., have always hated it. her and am turning her son against her. I roll, Assail. Tried to explain that this is about the baby, not any personal vendetta, but Mill wasn't hearing it. At least Asael has our back now and told the rest of that side of the family to but out unless they want the full story of what Mill really did. That's cut down the calls from random relatives, thank God. As for Mill directly, after my husband's

text and then radio silence from us, she actually showed up at our house the day after I posted. Yep. Despite being told not to. It was in the afternoon, and I was home alone with the baby, husband was at work. I heard the doorbell and looked through the window and saw her at the door. My heart just sank, I was not ready for a face-to-face. I didn't open it. Instead, I spoke through the locked door, trying to stay calm. I said, you need to leave. We told you we need space, she said, please, just let me talk, and started knocking harder. The baby was napping and I was so afraid Mills' loud knocking would wake her. I said, if you don't leave, I'm calling the police. You're not coming in. She kept saying, I'm your mother-in-law,

let me in, I deserve to see my grandchild. It was like she wasn't hearing a word I said. After a couple minutes of back and forth through the door, I actually did pick up my phone, and said loud enough for her to hear, I'm dialing now. That did it, she yelled something like you ungrateful little bee, this isn't over. Yeah, she dropped a B word at me, and then I heard her stomp off. I was shaken, but I immediately texted my husband who was beyond pissed. He wanted to drive straight to her place and have it out, but I convinced him to let it be for now.

Instead, we documented it. I wrote down exactly what happened while it was fresh, because I was pretty ravit. and didn't want to forget details. Either way, we did inform the lawyer about her showing up and making a scene. He advised that if it happens again and we truly feel harassed or threatened, we shouldn't hesitate to call the police to document. A formal police report would help if we need a restraining order down the line. For now, we're trying to avoid going nuclear, no official row or lawsuit yet, because we hope she'll back off when she realizes we're serious. But I have zero tolerance for another stunt like that. So that's where things stand after three days.

We haven't heard from Mill since she stormed off from my doorstep yesterday, but I'm not naive enough to think she's done causing trouble. My gut says she's stewing and possibly plotting her next move, but maybe the shock of nearly having the cops called on her knocked some sense into her. We'll see. My husband and I are united and staying strong. It's stressful, but seeing him stand up to his mom so firmly has honestly made me love him even more. It's not easy for him. He's pretty upset that it's come to this with his mother, but he keeps saying, our family comes first. She brought this on herself. We're taking it day by day. For now, we're just keeping records of everything and focusing on taking care of our baby, who, by the way, is doing fine. The piercings are healing and we haven't

noticed any infection. Thank goodness. I'll update again if there's more to report. I really hope Mill just sees the light and genuinely apologizes or at least stays away. Thanks again to everyone who helped us feel validated. It's been a crazy few days, but we're hanging in there. On a lighter note, a few of you joke that I should invoice Mill for the doctor visits about the piercings, ha. As satisfying as that thought is, I won't poke the bear. But it did make me chuckle in a time of high stress, so thank you for the last.

After After Update 2, one week later. Right after Update 1, things were strangely quiet for a couple days. No surprise visits, no new nasty texts from Mill. We thought maybe she was finally giving us the space we asked for. Honestly, I should have known better, it was just the calm before the next storm. A few days ago, we got a knock on the door in the morning. I looked out the window and saw police officers. My stomach dropped. I immediately thought, did she actually call the cops on us?

I opened up, husband was at work, unfortunately, and the officers were very polite. They said they received a report of a possible domestic disturbance and were asked to do a welfare check. I was confused as hell at first. The officers mentioned they got a call from someone claiming there was yelling and a baby crying at our address. I realized almost immediately this had to be Mills doing. There was no disturbance here, Baby Girl and I were having a normal morning of me feeding her puree and singing silly songs. I explained to the police that everything was fine and that I suspected this report was made

by a disgruntled family member as retaliation. They looked a bit skeptical, I get it, people lie to cops, and they had to make sure the baby and I truly were okay. They asked if they could come and just to be sure everything was all right. I agreed and let them take a quick look. The baby was cooing in her high chair, house was calm, other than my hands shaking a bit from nerves. I had nothing to hide, so I even showed them the nursery, and of course everything was normal. The officers apologized for the intrusion and said it appeared to be a false alarm, likely a prank

call or misunderstanding. I straight up told them, I suspect my mother-in-law made a false report to intimidate us. We've been having issues with her, they said if I had any proof of that, I could file a report. I didn't have proof, it was an anonymous call they got. But let's be real, who else would do that? I did give them Mills' name and a brief summary of the situation. They kind of nodded like this wasn't their first rodeo with family disputes. One officer suggested that we could pursue a restraining order if we fear more harassment. I said we were considering and that our lawyer would likely be in touch with them if needed. They left after that, and while they were polite, I was pretty shaken up.

Even though I knew we were doing nothing wrong, having police show up at your door because someone insinuated your harming your child is terrifying. I had a good cry after I closed the door and then immediately called my husband. He was furious and wanted to call his mom right that second. I convinced him, again, to hold off and instead we contacted our lawyer. The lawyer confirmed that what Mill likely did, false welfare check, is a form of harassment and could actually bolster a case for a restraining order if we choose to go for one. He suggested we document this police visit, done, I got the

officers' names and badge numbers, and also consider that Mill might escalate further. We asked what further could even be, and he mentioned CPS, Child Protective Services. That had honestly been at the back of my mind too. A lot of you in the comments warned that people like Mill sometimes try calling CPS with false claims. Well, the lawyer basically said, be prepared for a possible CPS visit, just in case, given the police welfare check stunt. That was horrifying to hear, but also not unrealistic. Sure enough, guess what happened two days later? CPS came knocking. I can't make this up. This time my husband was home, thank God. We both answered the door and there was a woman from child protective services. She said they'd received an anonymous tip about possible neglect of our baby.

My husband and I exchanged a look of pure rage slash disbelief. We invited her in, because again, we have nothing to hide. Honestly, we also wanted to show just how absurd this all is. The CPS worker was professional, but you could tell she's seen some crap and wasn't taking anything at face value. She said the report claimed our baby cries constantly, is left unattended for long periods, and had some untreated injury to her ears. Oh, I wonder who could have mentioned her ears? That right there gave it away, if it wasn't obvious already. The report also apparently suggested that the mother, me, might be suffering from postpartum

issues and not caring for the child properly. It was a lot of BS. I was livid but tried to stay calm and cooperative. We showed the CPS Lady Our Home, Our Very Healthy Baby, who was actually napping peacefully when she arrived, which I pointed out kind of contradicts cries constantly. We had documentation ready too. We showed her our pediatrician's notes from the last check-up, perfectly healthy baby, meeting milestones, and even the notes from the pediatrician visit about treating the new ear piercings that Mill did. We were as transparent as possible. The whole time, my husband and I were also frankly unloading about the Mill situation.

The CPS worker listened but reminded us that she's just there to evaluate the child safety, not mediate a family dispute. In the end, she said everything looks fine and this case would likely be closed as unsubstantiated. She did caution that they'd follow up with us in a week or two as a routine, but she didn't seem concerned. We directly asked her, off the record, if we should be worried about Mill trying this again. She kind of smiled in that I've seen this a million times way and said, if someone keeps making false reports, it usually ends up flagged in the system. She also said we had the right to file a police report for harassment if we knew who was making the false claims. We told her we were pretty certain it was my mill, and she

nodded like I figured. After she left, my husband and I had a talk. This was the last straw. It's one thing to annoy us with texts or show up unannounced. But calling the authorities twice on us and trying to paint us as unfit parents? That could have endangered our family if things were taken seriously or if we got a particularly zealous worker. It's unforgivable. We decided then and there to officially pursue

a restraining order against Mill. We called our lawyer and started the process. We gathered all the evidence. One, the text messages where she threatened we'd regret it and implied she had rights to the baby. Two, notes about her showing up banging on our door. I had my written account, and I told our lawyer we do have a ring doorbell camera that caught some of the incident.

Yep, forgot to mention earlier, we have her on video yelling at our door and calling me names. Lawyer was very interested in that. We provided the footage. 3. The police welfare check record. The officers gave us a card we photocopied. 4. The CPS visit documentation. We obtained a copy of the report that we were clear. which implicitly shows the accusations were false.

Our lawyer believes we have a strong case for a harassment restraining order. We are in the process of filing. There's a hearing scheduled for next week where a judge will review and likely grant a temporary order first. Mill will be served with it if it's granted. I am nervous about that confrontation, but less so than I was about CPS. At this point, we have not told Mill we're taking legal action. She'll find out when she's served or contacted by the court. I can only imagine her reaction. It's not going to be pretty.

But she brought this on herself. Honestly, I'm still in disbelief it came to this. Just a couple weeks ago I was simply dealing with a pushy grandma. Now I'm dealing with restraining orders and crap like I'm on an episode of Law and Order, Family Edition. It's insane. I know a lot of folks will wonder, where's Phil or other family and all that? Phil has been passive, as usual. Sill is disgusted with Mill and told us she'll testify on our behalf if needed.

Like verifying that Mill was bragging about piercing the ears and then got mad when we were angry, that helps establish Mill's behavior pattern. Extended family seems to be keeping their distance now, perhaps realizing how serious this got. No one's defending Mill to us anymore after the police CPS involvement came to light. I think even those who initially thought we were overreacting have gone quiet. Mill might have overplayed her hand and lost a lot of sympathy. So that's the update. We survived the welfare check, survived the CPS visit,

and are going to court soon to get protection from Mill's harassment. It's been one hell of a week, let me tell you. I barely sleep properly, I jump when the doorbell rings, and I'm drinking way too much coffee to compensate. but I'll do whatever it takes to keep my baby safe and our sanity intact. I will update again after the court hearing or if anything big happens. Cross your fingers that the judge sees what we see, a loving family under siege by a boundary-stomping grandma gone rogue.

Update 3, three weeks later. Hello again. It's been a few weeks since the last update, and I have some significant news to share. I would have updated sooner, but I wanted to wait until after. the court proceedings and let the dust settle a bit. Also, to be honest, I needed a breather from reliving all this drama. But here I am with what should be the last update. First off, the restraining order. We had our day in court about two weeks ago. It was just a hearing for a temporary order, but Mill showed up with a lawyer of her own, shocking, she actually took it

seriously. We had our attorney in a folder full of evidence. I was a ball of nerves that morning. neither my husband nor I had ever been to court before. The judge heard our side first. Our lawyer the unauthorized outing and piercing, the harassment texts, including that you'll regret it, Jem, the unannounced door pounding incident, with screenshots from our doorbell camera showing mill on our porch and a log of when it happened. And the false welfare check slash CPS report, plus the weird email to my work after my last update. We both provided sworn statements and so did my Sill. She submitted a written statement corroborating Mill's behavior after the incident, since she couldn't attend in person. Mill's lawyer tried to paint this as a family misunderstanding

that blew up. He actually said we were using the legal system to punish a well-meaning grandmother. He downplayed the CPS call, suggesting there was no proof it was Mill, true, it was anonymous, but come on, the most bizarre part. Mill herself got a chance to speak and she actually lied under oath, claiming I had given her permission to pierce the baby's ears. I literally gasped and said, What? That's absolutely untrue, before my lawyer signaled me to let it go for now.

What really turned the tide was the evidence. We showed the judge printouts of Mills' texts where she essentially admits to doing the piercing and says you're overreacting, which directly contradicts her claim that I gave permission. We also had a copy of the pediatrician's report about treating the ear piercing aftermath, which notes that parents, us, were upset at unauthorized piercing. That lined up with our story, not hers. The kicker was the video from the doorbell cam.

It had audio of her yelling you ungrateful little B when I wouldn't let her in. That undermined the sweet well-meaning grandma image pretty well. As for the CPS and police stuff, the judge seemed very concerned that within a short period, two false reports were made and coincidentally right after we barred Mill. While we couldn't prove 100% it was her, the sequence of events and her other behavior spoke volumes. Long story short, the judge granted us a temporary restraining order effective immediately. Mill is not allowed within 100 yards of us, our home, our daycare, etc., and no contact directly or through proxies. We'll have another hearing in a month or so to possibly make it a long-term order.

Mill looked absolutely stunned and started crying when the judge announced the decision. She was pleading to my husband as the bailiff kind of ushered everyone out, saying, How could you do this? I'm your mother. He just walked right past her, I think I was shaking, part adrenaline. But mostly relief that the law is on our side here. Since that court day, Mill has been silent, as she legally must. No calls, no surprise visits, she'd be arrested.

no more anonymous reports, none have come, thank goodness. An unexpected development. Phil actually reached out to my husband a couple days after the hearing, asking if they could meet one-on-one. Husband agreed, and they met at a cafe. I stayed home. From what husband told me, Phil apologized for everything. He said he had no idea Mill had gotten so extreme, I guess she didn't fully tell him about calling

CPS and all that. He seemed genuinely shocked when husband filled him in. Phil was apparently on the verge of tears, saying he's caught in the middle and he doesn't want to lose his son and grandchild. He also said he's been trying to convince Mill to get counseling, because she just doesn't see that she did anything wrong. Husband told his dad that we all loved Mill and never wanted this, but her behavior gave us no choice. He made it clear that until Mill gets help and respects our boundaries, there's no going back. Phil said he understood and that he's going to try and get her into therapy, whether Mill will go is another story. They ended the talk with a hug, I think.

Phil asked if he could still have a relationship with us and the baby separate from Mill, and husband said we'd need to think about it and make sure Phil truly respects that he can't play middleman or try to sneak Mill any info or access. We're considering it. I feel a bit bad for Phil. He's always been the quiet go-along to get a long guy, which is probably why Mill is the way she is, no one ever stopped her. But at least he's reaching out peacefully. As of now, we haven't allowed any visits. We might let Phil come see his grandchild soon, maybe meeting at Sill's

house or somewhere Mill won't know about. We'd have to be cautious and probably set some ground rules like he can't talk about us to Mill and vice versa, etc. The restraining order doesn't cover Phil, so legally it's fine as long as he abides by it, not acting on Mill's behalf. We'll see. We haven't decided, and we're taking it slow. Our priority is ensuring Mill has zero access to information or contact about our daughter. I should mention, a few people asked in comments, on the original and my first update, if we'd ever consider going NC, no contact, permanently with Mill. I think at this point the answer is, effectively, yes.

The Roe means legally NC. Even after that expires, unless she has a mass, massive, genuine change, which, let's be real, is rare at her age without serious effort, we have no intention of resuming contact. It's sad, but she hasn't shown any remorse, just anger at being stopped. If by some miracle she does a 180, gets therapy, sends a real apology taking ownership, then maybe years down the line we could reassess. But that bridge is a pile of ashes right now. So where does that leave us? For now, enjoying the peace and quiet. My plan is to do one more update in the near future once the permanent

restraining order hearing happens, or whatever the next step is legally, just to close this out and let you all know if Mill faced any other consequences. Anyway, I'll wrap this up. So yeah, this is likely goodbye from me, at least on this throwaway account. I truly want to thank all the commenters here who stuck with my long posts and updates. Your blunt advice, personal stories, just internet hugs were incredibly helpful. I'm logging off now to go enjoy a quiet evening with my husband and to cuddle our little one. She just started saying da-da and mama-ma babbles recently, which brightens every day. Life goes on, and we're happy for that.

Thank you for listening and for all the help along the way. Stay safe and hold your boundaries, folks. Cheers.