Battle of the grandparents

I had a battle of wills this week with my mother-in-law.

It was dinnertime and she told my 21-month-old daughter, Nicole, that she could have some chocolate cream pie with mounds of whip cream and chocolate chips.

Ah, yes, a healthy choice.

So, I jumped up and said, “Wait, let me get her dinner first. Then she can have pie.” (Yes, I felt very much like everything I hated about my mother when I was young, but I knew once she saw that pie, I was not getting any chicken in her that night.)

So I ran to the kitchen to make the dinner; my mother-in-law ran behind me. I scooped up the chicken on to a plate; she sliced the pie.

I hurriedly shoved the chicken in the microwave, but I was too late.

Nicole already had a whip cream mustache and both grandpa and grandma were offering her more. I stuck a fork with chicken on it in her face and Nicole looked at me like, “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” and ate another piece of pie.

Grandparents: 1
Mom: 0

Subsequently, Nicole also had banana cream pie for breakfast the next day.

So as much as I love how grandparents shower Nicole with attention, sometimes it’s hard to compete. I guess it all comes down to the fundamental difference that their job in life is to spoil her and mine is to raise her. And sometimes, those two things just don’t mix.

What do you do when your parenting style conflicts with your own parents or with your in-laws? Do you speak up or just let them do what they want?