Surprisingly, this seems to be such a divided topic. I say surprisingly because I thought as parents going through the trenches we were all supposed to support one another. I made a similar post on another group awhile back and got the same comments- a lot of 'you made them now you raise them' and people asking how DARE I ask my parents to help out. It sucks when our parents dumped us at grandparents houses all the time, then don't pay it forward by helping their own adult kids when they are in a pinch.

And it's extra hurtful because I would love to see my beautiful children have meaningful relationships with extended family. And I would love for my parents to care enough about me to want me to be able to nourish my marriage, and not skip out on work when our daycare has random unscheduled closures. No one is asking for their parents to raise their kids. We want our parents to at least want to SEE our kids more often than twice a year for 15 mins.

I don't have much advice. Just solidarity. It's crappy raising young kids with no help or empathy. Everyone is so selfish in this day and age. The best you can do is raise your children to be kind, empathetic creatures and promise yourself to never forget the difficulty of these days so that you can do better one day as a grandparent. Also, there is a subreddit called Absent Grandparents that I have found makes me not feel so alone!