Dear Annie: Freeloading kids are a strain, but we love our grandson

Dear Annie:

My husband and I have a 34-year-old daughter who has lived with us all her life (except for maybe a year). She brought her freeloading boyfriend in. I had cancer at the time and they didnโ€™t even bother to do anything, so she ended up pregnant.

I kicked her boyfriend out of the house after finding out he couldnโ€™t even take her to the hospital to have his baby. The baby brought such joy to our lives, but she works at a very part-time job, doesnโ€™t help around the house and stays in her room while we watch the boy. She wanted to get him a dog, so we helped her. If we were to ask her to leave, we would worry about our grandson.

She is getting along by not paying rent or buying food, and she has both of us, and her sonโ€™s other grandma, for free babysitters. This is going on while his dad is in rehab. We even pay some of her other bills when she canโ€™t.

Iโ€™m disabled, so we get my check, and my husband works very hard to support the four of us. How can we get her to leave without her taking her son completely away from us? — Broken Mom

Dear Broken Mom:

If you teach a man to fish, he has dinner for life, but if you give him a fish, he only has dinner for one night. Your daughter and her boyfriend are only having the fish handed to them and it is not doing anyone any favors. But you are in a tough situation because you love your grandson and donโ€™t want your daughter to take him away.

The truth is that your daughter sounds like she is hurting. It canโ€™t feel good to just sit in her room all day while her parents play with her son. She might be suffering from depression. She needs help and support, not judgment. You began your letter by calling your grandsonโ€™s father a freeloader. While it might seem like that is what he is doing, he is also suffering from addiction and is trying to get help in rehab. That type of judgment doesnโ€™t help anyone, especially your grandson.

You and your husband should have calm conversations with your daughter to set up…

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