This article was first published in April 2021.
A young father has turned to the internet for advice after banning his parents from looking after his infant daughter in an act other family members are calling "childish".
Posting in popular Reddit forum 'Am I the Asshole', the 22-year-old father said everyone in his family had been regularly coming over to visit his nine-month-old daughter Thalia.
"[My fiancee and I] basically decided it was gonna be up to Thalia when she older if she wants to get her ears pierced. [To be honest] I was never into the idea of it being done as a baby when they can't consent," he explained.
"My fiancée's parents pierced her ears when she was a baby and she always hated wearing earrings. Still doesn't wear any."
But he said despite making the decision clear, his pro-piercing parents "didn't shut up about it" and insisted "she'd look so cute".
"We told them already no and that's our answer."
So when Thalia's grandparents were babysitting, they took matters into their own hands, getting one of their friends to pierce little Thalia's ears at home.
"We were f**king pissed they went behind our backs. We stopped talking to them after that for disrespecting our decision," the man said.
"Everyone was saying we were making a big deal and we can't cut them out their granddaughter's life over something like that."
The young father said he then decided to let his parents only see Thalia when "one of us is around and they won't be left alone with her".
"That's where everyone is still saying we're being massive assholes because we're still punishing them over something that's not a big deal and we're treating them like children," he wrote.
"Even my fiancée's parents think that only letting them have supervised visits is too much and they should be allowed to babysit or have Thalia at their place alone like before.
"We're still not wanting to change our minds on our conditions so it's pinning everyone against us."
He asked fellow Reddit users if he was being "the asshole" in the scenario - and the majority of commenters made their feelings clear.
"I wouldn't be leaving my child with them ever again. My mum cut my daughter's fringe and I lost it; this is another level altogether," one fellow parent wrote.
"They permanently damaged their granddaughter's ears to put jewellery in, which can cause an infection and possibly kill the child if it was not done with sterile gear, which is not confirmed because it was just one of their friends and possibly not a professional," another pointed out.
"If the granddaughter doesn't like the piercings when she is older, then they permanently ruined one of the main parts of her body. That is absolutely absurd."
