My son is 3, will be 4 in the summer. He is happy, smart, and well behaved. I got divorced over a year ago and have split custody with his dad (just about 50/50). No matter whose house he is at, my son is loved and taken care of even if his father and I don't agree on much. My mom watches my son for a few hours each day as I sleep because I work at night.The issue is that my parents think it is so cruel that my son is growing up in two households, and because I (a mom!) have a job. My son, on the other hand, has no complaints as this is all he's known. They are very traditional in all the wrong ways and will tell me flat out that I am "going to screw him up" because I work - 32 hours a week - all while he is asleep anyway. My mom feels so bad for him that she refuses to discipline him while watching him. He is generally very well behaved anyway but when he doesn't get in trouble for small things like eating more candy than he is supposed to, he tends to push the boundaries - jumping on the couch, saying the word "stupid" - and still receives no discipline. Eventually my mom will tell me all the bad things he's done and when I point out that he'd probably stop if she put him in time out for a moment she refuses to take any responsibility and instead insists that he is acting this way because he is lashing out because his parents are divorced and I work all the time.Tonight really struck a cord with me. During the day, I took my son to Target with me where we pretended the cart was a roller coaster he was riding, and then pretended it was a police car and we were on a rescue mission, and generally made an errand as fun as it could possibly be. Then we went to a kids play place and because it was an off hour we had the whole place to ourselves and we ran around and played and had a blast, then went out for pizza for dinner. My point being, we had a very fun day. We did the bedtime routine and as he was in his bed falling asleep, I went to get ready for work. I hear my dad come in and start talking to him. He asks him if he is unhappy, to which my son says no. Who asks this of a three year old?! Then he asks if he wishes anything in his life were different, to which my son says he wishes he was still at the play place with mommy because bedtime is no fun. Then my dad asks him if he likes going back and forth between houses, to which my son says yes because he has fish to take care of here and cats to take care of at daddy's house. My son's answers are simple and unpained because he really is a happy kid. My dad keeps pushing then eventually, after not getting the answers he wanted, tells him that if he ever needs to talk about anything to let him know.I feel so stuck having to rely on my parents for help because they just add stress to my life and make me feel constant guilt even though I am doing my best. My son is honestly spoiled. My ex and I both try to do really great stuff with him on our respective weekends, he has 2 houses filled with toys, loves his part time school, has lots of play dates.It should also be added that my parents were pushing for my divorce long before it happened and now that it did they think I've slighted my son. They think I should take full custody (even though a court wouldn't grant that for no reason). So they somehow think that my removing his dad and other side of the family from his life won't screw him up but heading 20 minutes down the road every other week will ruin his life.Sorry for the wall of text I'm just really at my wits end and looking for advice or support or something. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2DuHmsD
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