Parents Don't Baptize Son so He Could Choose Later, Learn Grandparents Already Did It Secretly – Story of the Day

After deciding to let her son choose his religion later in life, a woman discovered that her parents had already baptized him in secret. A few years later, a lawyer contacted her, and what he said gave her a chance to teach her parents an important lesson.

"This is a complete violation of our parental decision and everything we stand for! This is not right!" Marissa yelled at her mother, Cynthia, who had been trying to calm the situation.

A few hours ago, Marissa had met with Mrs. Nelson, who lived next door to her parents. She hadn't seen the older woman in a long time and stopped to chat. But Mrs. Nelson revealed something Marissa never imagined would happen.

"So, why weren't you at your son's baptism?" she asked.

Her father interjected. "Marissa, this is cruel. Is this payback?"

"What? What do you mean? My son has not been baptized yet. My husband is not very religious, and we decided it was best to wait. He'll choose when he's 18," Marissa shook her head and explained the situation.

"Hmm…no, darling. Cynthia baptized your kid two months ago. She showed me the pictures on her phone," Mrs. Nelson countered, confused.

Marissa didn't know what to say. She asked Mrs. Nelson to explain further, but the older woman didn't know much else. So, she did the only thing she could think of and ran to her parents. She was forced to come clean, and they tried to justify their actions. But Marissa was livid.

"It was for his own good," Cynthia justified, smiling condescendingly at her daughter.

"NO! His own good is making his own choices, Mother! This is…you'll never see him again!" Marissa threatened and stomped out of their house.

She cut them off, although they tried to call, text, and come over. Marissa and her husband were not ready to forgive them, so she blocked and avoided them until something happened a few years later.

***

"Really?" Marissa asked in wonder. She was on the phone with a lawyer who was representing a big corporation, which was planning to build luxury buildings in the area in New Jersey. It just so happened that one of the lots they were planning to buy for their project was Marissa's parents' house. She was the official owner because it had originally belonged to her grandmother and had been passed down to her.

But since her husband had his own house, and her parents had lived there for so long, she let them keep it. It was still in her name, though, and the lawyer offered a significant amount of money to buy it.

After listening to more of the offer, Marissa almost felt the lightbulb turn on in her head. This was the perfect chance to teach her parents a big lesson.

***

"Marissa! No! You can't do this! This is our home!" Cynthia scolded after hearing what her daughter had to say. They had initially been so excited because she reached out to them after years of freezing them out. But this was not the news they were expecting.

Her father interjected. "Marissa, this is cruel. Is this payback?"

"No," she shrugged, her words dripping ice. "It's just a great opportunity, and since we don't care about each other's opinions or desires or wants or decisions, I'm doing this. So, you should find a new place to live."

"Please! Don't do this," Cynthia stood and begged. "We're so sorry. We shouldn't have done what we did. It was a mistake. It was wrong. We've wanted to apologize for years. We just thought that this new generation was so different from ours. The way we grew up…well, a baptism was important to us. But we should've discussed it. Please, forgive us."

Marissa stared at the tears falling from Cynthia's eyes and started to feel guilty. But her mother had finally apologized, which was all she ever wanted. Her father joined in the apology and pleaded with her to reconsider.

"See? See how awful it is when others make big decisions without consulting you first?" Marissa asked them. She dropped the ice in her words and spoke to them as their daughter.

"We see, darling. We're so sorry. Please! We'll never impose anything religious on our grandson again. We'll support whatever path he decides to take at 18. You can even change religions. Well, I've heard. I'm not sure," Cynthia started blubbering.

"Come here," Marissa stopped and gave her a huge hug. "I was lying, Mom. I was never going to sell this house like this. But I have to tell you about the offer. I think it's good. It's good money. You could buy a smaller place and save the rest."

"Oh, dear. Thank you! Thank you!" her mother wailed, but happily this time. Her father breathed a sigh of relief, and after their emotions had settled, they talked about the offer.

They eventually decided to go ahead with the sale, and Marissa's parents moved to a small condo and kept the rest of the money in their savings. They never tried to overstep boundaries or make decisions regarding Marissa's son again.

What can we learn from this story?

• You can't make decisions for anyone else. Although you may sincerely believe you know better, you must let others – especially your adult children – make their own choices.
• Sometimes, children can teach their parents essential lessons. Marissa showed her parents how wrong they were by pretending to take their choices away, and they finally learned exactly how wrong they were.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who moved into her late parents' house and started hearing weird noises.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.