40-year-old grandparents pay their live-in 20-year-old daughter's bills, scolding her when the single mom spends money on a vacation: 'We are financially supporting her and also footing $1000s in legal fees'

Generosity is a funny thing. While nobody who is genuinely generous is looking for a repayment, oftentimes recognition is the least a recipient can do. Offspring are rarely grateful for the help, care, and money that parents provide, but once you become a parent yourself, the sacrifices required to be a good parent should become wildly apparent. You could say that, “Game recognizes game.” 

It's for this reason that becoming a grandparent is such a cool experience. You get to see the child that you raised raise another human being, interjecting with lavish birthday gifts and a touch of spoiling. Grandparents love to spoil their grandchildren whenever possible, ignoring their own rules from back in the day in order to give the new kiddo in their lives the biggest smile they've ever seen. Grandparents would do just about anything for that little shrimp, so when it becomes clear that their kid would rather spoil themselves than their own offspring, the dilemma of parenting and grandparenting opens a rift in the family structure so unavoidably enormous, that the elephant in the room can easily squeeze through.