Woman Slammed for Bailing on Grandson's Birthday To See Her 'Golden Child'

The internet has sided with a mom after she shared how her mother canceled plans to see her grandson on his birthday.

Angry and upset, the Mumsnet user explained: "Long story short, my older brother is the golden child. My mother always puts him and his family first. My brother and I are not speaking—this is his fault, trust me on that—and my mother had chosen to take his side."

As a result, the mom explained that she, her husband, and her children were often left out of family activities.

"My son turns five next week," she explained: "His actual birthday is a weekday and my mom asked what we are doing. We are doing cake and presents after school. She asks if she can come, we say yes of course."

But when it came to the birthday, things didn't go to plan.

"My son is excited and has mentioned the plan several times. Today my mom says she now has other plans, tickets to an event at 3 pm so maybe she can pop in at his bedtime. Maybe. Guess who the other plans are with? That's right."

Furious at her mother's actions, the Mumsnet user shared her upset and wrote: "Is it too much to expect her to keep my son's birthday free as f****** agreed and not treat him like an afterthought she can 'pop' and see after she's finished with her preferred plan with golden child?"

With hundreds of replies, users overwhelmingly sided with the mom, slamming the grandmother's behavior.

"I'd honestly just stop bothering with her," said one commenter: "That's probably the only way she will see how much it's impacting you."

"She's given you a lifetime of being second best don't let her continue to do this with your son," said another reply.

A 2009 study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family looked into the role of perceived maternal favoritism in sibling relations, after collecting data from more than 700 adult children.

Regardless of which sibling was favored, perceptions of current favoritism, and recollections of favoritism from childhood, the findings revealed that siblings have better relationships as adults when they believe that they are treated equally by parents.

"I know this feeling OP, and how painful it is to always be cast aside when the golden child wants some attention," shared another commenter: "It was very difficult for me to set boundaries, but it was the best thing I did."

But another reply urged the woman to stop putting herself in the difficult situation: "​​I don't think you can complain about predictable stuff when you keep putting yourself in the situations that prompt the let down."