NEED TO KNOW
A woman says her mother-in-law wants to host a “bath ceremony” in which her newborn is bathed before the family
“Apparently, she wanted to host a gathering at her house, where the baby’s ‘first real bath’ would be done in front of the family with oils, flowers, and ‘grandma blessings,’ ” the woman writes in a Reddit post
Now, other Internet users are weighing in — with some saying the grandma is trying to make it “all about her”
A woman whose mother-in-law is “really into tradition” says she’s now inventing new ones — and wants to host a “baby’s first bath ceremony.”
In a post shared to Reddit, the woman writes “My MIL (59F) is really into tradition, but sometimes she invents new ones and acts like they’re ancient. We had our baby girl last week, and she asked when we were doing the ‘First Bath Ceremony.’ “
The post continues: “I had no clue what she was talking about. Apparently, she wanted to host a gathering at her house, where the baby’s ‘first real bath’ would be done in front of the family with oils, flowers, and ‘grandma blessings.’ “
The woman told her mother-in-law “no” almost immediately.
“One, we already bathed the baby. Two, I’m barely walking straight and have no interest in packing up for a ritual invented on Facebook,” she writes.
But her mother-in-law “flipped out” and “said I robbed her of ‘the spiritual connection between matriarch and baby.’ “
“Now she’s telling people I ‘disrespected her culture’ (she’s white, for context) and that I’m ‘spiritually hostile,’ ” she writes. “My husband finds it hilarious but also asked if maybe we could’ve just let her do it ‘symbolically.’ I’m tired. I feel like this is nuts.”
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Reddit users are weighing in, with one writing, “There is no culture where a ceremony exists to bind the spiritual connection between the matriarch and the baby … This is just grandma looking for a way to make it all about her.”
Adds another: “The fact she called herself the matriarch is disturbing.”
Read the original article on People
