My mom and I were taking care of my 11-month-old baby boy, Ashton, while my wife was away at work. Yesterday, my wife called to say she’d be home this morning to see our son. Mom and I froze because we had been keeping a heartbreaking truth about Ashton from her.
Hey everyone! So, my wife had a huge breakdown because my mom and I had been keeping a huge truth about our baby from her. Before I spill the tea, here’s a little backstory…
Luke sitting on the couch | Source: Midjourney
My wife, Julia, and I had our son (now 11 months old) while she was in residency. She took a few weeks off before giving birth and then went back to work a few months after that.
My mom, Marianne, moved in with us shortly after the birth to help out, which allowed me to get in a few hours of work each day. It helped a great deal because I didn’t have to get swamped with work and taking care of my son, Ashton.
But my mom is quite an old-fashioned lady.
A cute little baby yawning | Source: Unsplash
As soon as she moved in with us, she definitely didn’t like this arrangement with me being a stay-at-home dad while Julia went to work. Although my sweet mom didn’t directly tell me anything, I could see how upset she was about this whole setup.
Sometimes, Julia would be away with her medical residency for days at a stretch, and Mom didn’t like it at all.
“Luke, why isn’t Julia here more often? She’s always glued to her work, isn’t she?” she asked one evening, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Luke’s mother talking to him | Source: Midjourney
“Mom, she’s in residency. You know how demanding that is,” I replied, trying to keep my tone calm.
“Still, a mother should be with her baby,” Mom murmured, shaking her head.
“She’s doing what’s best for her career and our family. We both agreed on this,” I said, my voice a bit firmer.
Mom sighed, her eyes softening. “I just want what’s best for Ashton.”
Luke staring at his mother | Source: Midjourney
“Me too, Mom. Me too,” I agreed, sighing. I don’t blame Mom and I respect her words. But at the same time, I’m not a restrictive husband and I care about my wife’s ambitions.
“You know, when I had you and your sister, I quit my job to take care of you both,” Mom said one day, her voice tinged with nostalgia.
“I know, Mom, but times are different now. Julia’s career is important, too,” I explained, trying to make her understand.
Luke’s mother is visibly upset | Source: Midjourney
Mom sighed, her eyes clouded with concern. “I’m just worried about Ashton. He needs his mother.”
“Julia and I made this decision together. We knew it would be hard, but it’s temporary,” I said, trying to reassure her.
“Temporary or not, a baby’s first year is crucial,” she muttered.
“Julia’s doing everything she can. We both are,” I said, feeling a knot of anxiety tighten in my chest.
Luke trying to reassure his mother that everything’s fine | Source: Midjourney
Later that night, Julia called. “I miss you and Ashton so much. How’s he doing?” she asked, her voice tired yet longing.
“He’s doing great, honey. Mom and I are taking good care of him,” I said, glancing at Mom who was rocking Ashton to sleep.
“Thank you, honey. I love you,” Julia whispered.
“I love you too,” I replied, my heart aching for her.
So, here’s what happened. I used to keep my wife updated on our baby regularly by sending her pics and texts. Sometimes even videos of him playing with his stuffed animals.
But whenever Julia visited on random days, mostly evenings, Ashton would be fast asleep, so she would just watch him silently, give him a gentle kiss, and return to her residency.
A few days and weeks passed like this, with Julia swamped with her clinical rotations and me and my mom taking care of baby Ashton.
However, yesterday, my wife called me, her voice bubbling with excitement. “Luke, honey, my schedule is getting a bit relaxed. I’ll be home every morning to check on Ashton,” she chirped.
I looked at Mom, who was cradling Ashton on the porch. “Oh no, Mom, Julia said she’ll be here every morning. What are we going to do now? How are we going to keep this truth about Ashton from her?” I gasped, hanging up the phone.
Mom’s eyes widened, and she said, “We have to figure something out, Luke.”
“We can’t keep this from her forever,” I worried, feeling the weight of the truth bearing down on me.
“Maybe it’s time to tell her,” Mom suggested, her voice trembling slightly.
“How? How do we tell her we’ve been HIDING THIS?” I asked, running a hand through my hair in frustration.
“We’ll find a way, but for now, let’s just take it one step at a time,” Mom reassured me.
I was pretty upset the whole night and couldn’t get enough sleep. My already loaded work stress, coupled with the truth Mom and I had been hiding from Julia, kept haunting me.
This morning, Mom walked into my room and told me, “Luke, honey, it’s okay. Julia would certainly find this out one day. Don’t worry… everything will be alright. I’m sure she would understand.”
I hoped so too. I asked her what Ashton was doing, and she said he was sleeping in his crib in the nursery.
I saw the time on my watch and my heart started racing because Julia would be home any minute. Before I could snap out of my thoughts, I heard her car screech to a halt outside.
“She’s here,” I whispered, feeling a rush of panic.
Mom nodded, trying to keep her composure. “Just stay calm, Luke,” she sighed.
It was my day off today, so I quickly slipped into a casual T-shirt and sat on the bed as Julia entered the bedroom, smiling, although she was a bit stressed out too.
Julia walked in, her face lighting up when she saw me. The first thing she did was ask about Ashton.
“Hey, how’s my favorite boys doing?” she asked, dropping her bag and coat.
“We’re good. Ashton just went down for a nap,” I replied, forcing a smile.
“I can’t wait to see him,” she said, heading towards the nursery.
Mom and I stared at each other because we knew what EXACTLY was going to happen now.
Just moments later, we heard Julia shriek, “Oh my God, Luke… How could you do this to me??”
Mom and I froze when my furious wife stormed to the bedroom, her eyes filled with anger and hurt.
“How could you keep this from me?” she demanded, her voice shaking.
“Julia, we can explain,” I started, but she cut me off.
“No, I don’t want explanations. I want the truth,” she snapped, her fists clenched.
Mom stepped forward, her face pale. “We were only trying to protect you, Julia.”
Julia shook her head, disbelief etched across her face. “Protect me? From what?”
I approached Julia but she yanked my hand. It ached my heart to see her cry like this. She then looked at me and yelled:
“HOW COULD YOU HIDE FROM ME THAT OUR BABY HAS STARTED SPEAKING HIS FIRST WORDS AND WALKS SO WELL??”
My Mom tried to reason, but Julia cut her off, yelling, “How could you do this to me? Both of you? How could you exclude me from this joy??”
Mom and I were so guilty and hurt. But we had our reasons why we hid this from my wife.
Well, a few weeks ago, our son started babbling words like, “mama,” “dada,” “nana,” and even “love you.” He even started taking his first baby steps, though he’d be wobbly and unbalanced.
It was so heartwarming and cute to watch my baby do this, and I hope dads like me out there can relate to this feeling very well.
“I missed his first words… his first steps. Do you know how that feels?” Julia sobbed, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Julia, honey, we didn’t want to burden you with more stress,” I said, my voice breaking. “You’ve been working so hard and…”
“But I needed to know, Luke. I’m his mother,” she cried, her voice filled with despair.
You see, Mom and I were so happy about baby Ashton’s first steps and speech, but at the same time, we were hurt because if we told Julia about it, she would be so sad and disappointed about missing these milestones.
So, we decided not to send Julia these videos of his progress. But turns out, our decision did not sit down too well with her and I was so guilty.
Julia was so angry and hurt. She barked at me, “Why didn’t you tell me, Luke? I’m his mother… I have the right to know everything.”
“We thought we were doing the right thing…” Mom intervened again, but the way Julia cut her off spoke volumes of her anger.
“How could you think this was right?” she snapped, her eyes blazing with fury. “You kept me away from my own son’s milestones.”
I could understand her pain and disappointment. I sighed and tried comforting her, saying, “Honey, Mom and I were just trying to keep your disappointment at bay. You’ve been working so hard and we didn’t want to double your stress by making you feel like you were missing out on even more.”
Julia burst into tears and it hurt me to the core to watch her cry like this. The one thing Mom and I feared all these days had taken over my wife – she was so DISAPPOINTED and not ready to forgive us.
“I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this,” Julia sniffled.
My mom placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Julia, honey, we were just doing what was best for you. We didn’t mean to hide this from you forever. We only had your best interests at heart. Your son loves you… he’s happy and healthy. That’s what matters most.”
But Julia was in emotional chaos. “But I missed his first words and his first steps. Do you know how much that hurts? How could you do this to me being a mother yourself?” she cried.
My Mom became numb, sighing deeply. She looked at me and gently nodded her head before leaving the room so I could talk to Julia.
I sat my wife down on the bed and gently squeezed her hands. Then I wiped her tears from her cheeks and said, “Darling, I understand what you’re feeling. I’m so sorry. I was just trying to spare you the pain.”
Julia sniffled, her eyes red and puffy. “I just… I feel like I’ve missed so much already. I can’t bear the thought of missing more.”
“I promise, from now on, we’ll make sure you’re involved in every moment,” I said, my voice earnest.
Julia looked at me, her eyes filled with hope and doubt. “You really mean that?”
“Absolutely. We love you, and we want you to be part of everything,” I assured her, holding her close.
Julia wiped her tears and looked at me. God, the way she looked at me with those big gleaming eyes is still stuck in my head. I was so guilty.
She took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry for blowing up on you and Mom, honey. I understand your intentions. But I’m his mother and I need to be a part of his life… and his milestones. I DON’T want to miss anything again, okay?”
I pulled Julia into a tight hug and gently kissed her forehead, telling her, “I promise, darling. From now on, we’ll share everything. We’ll make sure you’re involved every step of the way in our son’s life, no matter what.”
Julia nodded, a fresh wave of tears gushing into her eyes as I led her to the nursery where our baby kept babbling, “Mama! Dada!” That sweet innocent voice touched our hearts, and I admit, even I teared up at this point.
It’s been a wild rollercoaster of a day, but thankfully, the storm has calmed. Julia said she’d be home every morning to spend 2-3 hours with Ashton and ensure she never misses his important moments.
Another relief was that her residency was almost getting over in six months. That was great news because Julia would start her practice soon and balance work with raising our son.
I’m glad we finally found a new balance. And even though there might be unforeseen challenges, we are confident about making sure neither of us is left out from our son’s milestones.
So, internet fam, the jury’s on: What do you think? Are my mom and I wrong for lying to my wife about our baby’s milestones? I’m open to your views, and thanks for your valuable time.